Two familiar foes in the form of Lahore Badshahs and Hyderabad Heroes will lock horns in the first final of the Indian Cricket League’s 20s tournament.
All eyes will be on the first of the best-of-three finals of the ICL 20s tournament between Lahore Badshahs and Hyderabad Heroes on Thursday nightAHMEDABAD: Two familiar foes in the form of Lahore Badshahs and Hyderabad Heroes will lock horns in the first final of the Indian Cricket League’s 20s tournament. Both teams clashed in the season opener in Hyderabad, a game the Heroes won, albeit the VJD method following a power blackout in the city.
In last season’s final too the two teams met. In that game the Heroes got the better of the Badshahs.
But a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then. Ahmedabad has become a fortress of the Badshahs. They haven’t lost a game in the city. What’s more they posted their highest score of 211 at the Sardar Patel Stadium.
Skipper Inzamam-ul Haq was in a positive frame of mind on the eve of the big game. “Only the name of the game is different but our plans will remain same and we will adhere to them,” Inzamam said. Bowling will be the strength of the Inzamam-led team. In Naved-ul Hasan and Mohammad Sami they have two fine swing bowlers. “Our strength is our bowling attack. We have a bunch of bowlers who have restricted teams below 160, which in T20 is a great thing,” said Inzamam. Badshahs have won five of their six games while chasing a target. This points to the bowlers doing the job by restricting the opposition to modest scores.
Inzamam believes that his team will receive a lot of support as they are popular winners. “We have not lost a single game in Ahmedabad,” he said.
Heroes coach Steve Rixon said that having a strong fan base going into a crucial game is important.
“Fan support made a lot of difference and lifted us in a couple of games back then (last year when Heroes won the championships). We have learned to win away games and we want to maintain that winning momentum,” said Rixon. The Australian wants to focus on the task at hand. “We have to work hard to maintain the supremacy. We know we have the team to do it,” said Rixon.
Heroes bat deep and skipper Chris Harris will hope they fire on all cylinders. “Stuart Binny and Ambati Rayudu have come to the party. But that is not to say that if they fail we will struggle,” Nixon added.
Harris will also have to worry about the Badshahs’ openers. Imran Nazir and Imran Farhat have hit 29 sixes and 41 fours between them. “On current form they are the most dangerous players, but their aggression can go against them. If they fail we can make in-roads from there on,” said Harris.
However, Harris hopes that his slow bowlers, namely Nicky Boje and Indra Sekhar Reddy can do the trick. “Badshahs looked in trouble when the pace was taken off from the ball,” pointed Nixon. Inzamam was unperturbed. “The wicket here has hardly supported the spinners,” he said.
Not all of Heroes’ wins have been done in a canter. In the semis against Royal Bengal Tigers they won the game by three wickets with three balls to spare. All the batsmen got starts but couldn’t capitalise on it.
It waits to be seen as to which team blinks first in their best-of-three final clash.
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