Sport - Cricket

Razzaq stars in Heroes’s win

HYDERABAD: Abdul Razzaq’s all-round performance and a typically aggressive knock from Ambati Rayudu fashioned Hyderabad Heroes’s seven-run win over Mumbai Champs in the final league match of the Edelweiss 20s Challenge cricket championship at the Lal Bahadur Stadium here on Monday.

Hyderabad Heroes finished second with 10 points to achieve its objective of avoiding a semifinal clash with leader Lahore Badshahs (14 points) and will take on Chennai Superstars here in the first semifinal on April 2.

Mumbai Champs, chasing 177 for victory, seemed to be in the hunt at one stage thanks to fine batting by Raviraj Patil (51, 27 balls, 6x4, 3x6) . Then, a middle-order slump saw it slip from 94 for two in the 11th over to 139 for six by the 18th over.

It looked all over but Robin Morris (56, 47 balls, 3x4, 1x6) was in a different mood. With 38 runs required off the last two overs, Champs was in sight of an improbable win. But the wily Chris Harris cleaned up the dangerous Johan van der Wath in the 19th over and Man-of-the-Match Razzaq struck twice in the final over to trigger celebrations in the Heroes’s camp.

Earlier, Razzaq (78 n.o., 57 balls, 9x4, 2x6) and local hero Rayudu (55, 42 balls, 6x4, 2x6) came up with breezy knocks to help Heroes post a challenging 176 for two.

The two put on 121 runs from 12.5 overs in a rollicking second wicket partnership which left Champs clueless.

The scores: Hyderabad Heroes 176 for two in 20 overs (Abdul Razzaq 78 n.o., Ambati Rayudu 55) bt Mumbai Champs 169 for nine in 20 overs (Raviraj Patil 51, Robin Morris 56, Abdul Razzaq three for 31). — Principal Correspondent

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