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Warriors lays Giants low

K.C. Vijaya Kumar

Ahmedabad: Dhaka Warriors found its feet at the Sardar Patel Stadium here on Monday night. Having lost their earlier two matches at Hyderabad, Habibul Bashar’s men notched up their maiden victory in the Indian Cricket League, defeating Delhi Giants by 62 runs.

Needing 175 for a victory, Giants lost its way upfront despite opener A. Gunawardene’s brisk 22 which ended in a run out.

Gunawardene drove and whipped Mohammad Sharif but the seamer inflicted maximum damage, getting rid off Mohnish Mishra and T.P. Sudhindra, and by pouching Abbas Ali off Aftab Ahmed.

At 39 for four, Giants skipper Marvan Atapattu had the unenviable task of papering the cracks as well as hastening the runs. Atapattu could not last long and when left-arm spinner Mosharraf Hossain found his appeal for leg-before wicket being upheld in the referral, Giants spiralled towards its first defeat from two matches.

Delaying the inevitable

J.P. Yadav (19) and Abhinav Bali (33 n.o.) delayed the inevitable, carting sixes in an Aftab over. However, when Yadav swished through air while Alok Kapali knocked back the stumps, hope vanished. Giants scored 112 in 18.4 overs.

Earlier a blistering start helped Warriors crease Atapattu’s forehead after he won the toss and opted to field.

Opener Nazimuddin (54, 29b, 5x4, 5x6) smote Shane Bond straight down the ground and the next six was a dismissive scooped flick that sailed all the way over square-leg.

Nazimuddin then tucked into seamer Sudhindra with three sixes and his 91-run opening partnership with southpaw Shahriar Nafees (30) set a good platform for Warriors.

Bashar (28 n.o.) and Kapali (34) then stepped in with their 46-run fourth-wicket partnership.

The highlight being Kapali’s 6, 4, 4 act against Murtaza. Kapali perished in an attempt to clear long-on but by then he had ensured that his team had not frittered away its good start.

The scores: Dhaka Warriors 174 for five in 20 overs (Md. Nazimuddin 54, Alok Kapali 34, Shahriar Nafees 30, Habibul Bashar 28 n.o.) bt Delhi Giants 112 in 18.4 overs (Abhinav Bali 33 n.o., A. Gunawardene 22, Md. Sharif two for 18, Md. Rafique two for 19, Mosharraf Hossain two for 21).

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