World Of Sports

Local boy Ibrahim Khaleel hit a splendid 63 as ICL India recorded an enthralling four-wicket triumph over title favourites ICL Pakistani to produce the biggest upset yet in the ICL 20s World Series, here at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium on Friday night.

Buoyed by a packed crowd, the Hyderabad-born Khaleel hit eight sweetly-timed fours in his 47-ball knock to give his team a morale-boosting triumph over the contest’s toughest side. The victory came a day after the Indians fell to the World XI by eight wickets in the opening match of the tournament.

The 25-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman, who has 1393 runs from 37 first-class matches, was deserverdly named the Man of the Match.

For the Pakistanis who managed to conjure up 152-8 after electing to bat, it was a big wake-up call. They looked solid in a nine-wicket win over the World the other day but were humbled by a side that is largely made up of young Indians with good domestic track records. In comparison, the Pakistani XI includes players with rich international experience.

It felt like deja vu as the Pakistanis playing under the name of Lahore Badshahs were shocked in the final of the ICL 20s Challenge by underdogs Hyderabad Heroes at the same venue earlier this week.

But the match had its share of drama as the Indians lost some quick wickets at the twilight stage of the run-chase as Rana Naved bowled a tight final over. The Indians at 150-6 needed just three runs to win but the winning shot only came on the second-last delivery of the match. Captain Rajagopal Sathish, who became the first player in the contest to win a challenge against an umpiring call, was unbeaten on 29 off 20 balls.

Earlier, a solo effort by Imran Nazir enabled ICL Pakistani to put up a competitive 152-8 in their 20 overs. The big-hitting opener followed his match-winning fifty against ICL World the other day with a 47-ball 56 that was laced with six fours and two sixers.

But apart from him no other Pakistani batter was able to contribute much to the total. Fellow opener Abdul Razzaq, with a 12-ball 17 did give the Pakistanis a promising start (42 in 3.5 overs) but the middle-order collapsed completely as the Pakistanis failed to put up a score of 170-180 which they must have aimed at after winning the toss.