AHMEDABAD: Imran Nazir's stunning assault helped his Lahore outfit emerge the new 'Badshahs' of the Indian Cricket League Twenty20 championship at the Sardar Patel Stadium (Navrangpura) here on Sunday.
Nazir demolished defending champion Hyderabad Heroes' chances as his side clinched an emphatic eight-wicket win in the third final after the first two matches were shared. Badshahs had finished runner-up last time.
The 35,000-strong holiday crowd could not have dreamt of a better batting feast than the one dished out by Nazir (111 not out, 44b, 7x4, 11x6) who set the stands on fire right from the start, lofting the first ball of the innings from Abdul Razzaq over covers.
Racing awayNazir glanced for four before straight driving and pulling for two more sixes in the same over to set the tempo. He raced to his 50 off just 15 deliveries with four fours and five sixes.
Even though Nazir batted with a runner from the third over, it did not deter him from playing some exquisite shots and finish with a record number of 31 sixes in this edition. He pulled Alfred Absolom for a six to reach the magical three-figure mark.
The dashing opener finished off the match in style with another huge six, a perfect finale that earned him a standing ovation from the crowd. Imran Farhat, his opening partner, contributed just 28 in their 108-run stand which came off only 8.4 overs.
Earlier, Badshahs was all charged up with Azhar Mahmood showing the way. He struck the first blow, castling Jimmy Maher after the field umpire's decision to declare the same batsman leg-before off the previous ball was not upheld on referral.
Shahid shinesEven Badshahs fast bowler Shahid Nazir seemed to have reserved his best for the day. He cleaned up Anirudh Singh (12) and then forced Abdul Razzaq (1) to clip straight to midwicket.
The big guns — Ambati Rayudu (13), who walked down to loft Shahid for a huge six, Stuart Binny (25) and Nicky Boje (19) — failed to capitalise on their good starts.
Only Ibrahim Khaleel (45, 25b, 7x4, 1x6) went on to make a sizeable contribution for Heroes.
Badshahs was richer by Rs. two crores, Heroes by Rs. one crore and the losing semifinalists — Chennai Superstars and Royal Bengal Tigers — by Rs. 50 lakhs each.
Rana Naved-ul-Hasan of Badshahs was named 'player of the tournament.'
The scores: Hyderabad Heroes 158 for seven in 20 overs (Ibrahim Khaleel 45, Shahid Nazir three for 29) lost to Lahore Badshahs 160 for two in 13.5 overs (Imran Nazir 111 not out).
