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Heroes drubs Tigers

V.V. Subrahmanyam

AHMEDABAD: In an inconsequential match, Hyderabad Heroes drubbed Royal Bengal Tigers by nine wickets in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) match at the Sardar Patel Stadium (Navrangpura) here on Saturday.

Heroes completed the league engagements with six wins and Tigers five. Both teams had already booked their places in the semifinals.

Chasing 112, the Heroes started badly losing Abdul Razzaq (7) early. Wicketkeeper-batsman Ibrahim Khaleel (54 not out, 46 balls, 6x4, 1x6) and Ambati Rayudu (46 n.o., 33 balls, 7x4, 1x6), unperturbed by the early loss, took the team past the Tigers’s total in 15.1 overs.

Rayudu, in particular, was severe against fast bowler Sujay Tarafdar. He glanced, square-cut and walked down the track to cover-drive the fast bowler in the early part of his innings. The duo stitched a 101-run unbroken stand for the second wicket to guide the team to an emphatic victory. Rayudu gave the finishing touch, pulling leggie Upul Chandana for a huge six.

The Heroes’s domination was evident right from the start when fast bowler Syed Shahabuddin removed the top three batsmen – Deep Das Gupta (4), Hammie Marshall (9) and Rohan Gavaskar (6) — very early. Compounding the misery for Tigers was the impressive show in the middle-overs by left-arm spinners Inder Sekhar Reddy and Nicky Boje.

The scores: Royal Bengal Tigers 111 in 19.4 overs (Craig McMillan 31, K.S. Shahabuddin three for 22, I.S. Reddy three for 22) lost to Hyderabad Heroes 112 for one in 15.1 overs (Ibrahim Khaleel 54 not out, Ambati Rayudu 46 not out).

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