Published: Sep 14, 2014, 06:41 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 14, 2014, 06:41 PM (IST)
Sep 14, 2014
The sky had a pinkinsh-orange tinge when Lahore Lions came out to bat. Chasing a total which looked really good on a wicket which was sticky, sometimes pacy and a heaven for fast-bowlers.
When Trent Boult came in to bowl in his first over the Raipur wicket re-incarnated. It was not a sub-continent track. Boult bowled quick and moved the ball both ways, confusing Lahore batsmen . Nasir Jamshed went after scoring 5 runs to a delivery which deserved wicket against any batsmen , a arrow like yorker from Tim Southee. Ahmed Shehzad was next in que, as he edged one outside off just to give Watling easiest catch of his career. Lahore Lions were 11 for 2 after three overs.
The carnage didn’t stop then.Mohammad Hafeez got out in attempt to accelerate .The score read 16 for 3. The hopes had damaged already. But Umar Akmal was still there, he could take Lahore home like the last match but what happened next rolled disspointments all over. Akmal inside edged a in-swining delivery from Boult on-to his stumps. Questions came out in an instant ,” Was this the same team which defeated Mumbai Indians yesterday,” . At this moment 21-year-old Umar Siddiq also fell, as he failed to better the pace and pressure that moment.
Seven overs had been completed now, the sight was surreal, 21 for 5 , the scorecard begged for revival. Cameras turned to Hafeez as he was introspecting few points with Lahore coach. Saad Nasim finally broke through the prison and got a boundary after seven overs. Lahore Lions were just playing for respect and the run-rate which could matter at the closing stages. Tim Southee again came to life when he pulled out an acrobatic effort at the mid-wicket boundary to send Asif Raza to the dugout.
Lahore Lions managed to reach 37 for 6.
