Chennai Superstars openers Ian Harvey and G Vignesh made history by reaching the 50-run mark in 2.5 overs -- the fastest in any Twenty20 match -- while routing new entrants Dhaka Warriors in the second match of Indian Cricket League at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad on Saturday night.
Riding on a spectacular 61-run partnership off just 22 balls by Harvey and Vignesh, Chennai Superstars defeated Dhaka Warriors by six wickets.
Chasing a moderate target of 143 set by the Dhaka team, the Chennai openers set a solid base, which helped the middle order reach the target in 18 overs.
After Dhaka won the toss and elected to bat, consistent performances by the Chennai team's bowling department restricted them to a moderate 142 for 6 in the floodlit T20 match.
Dhaka Warriors openers Shahriar Nafees and Nazimuddin started on an attacking note as they gathered nine runs from the first over of the match off R Jesuraj. Nafees knocked Jesuraj for two boundaries in his over.
But Dhaka's luck didn't last long as Nafees was dismissed by Jesuraj for 18 off 13 balls, while Nazimuddin was sent back to the pavillion by Vignesh for 20.
Dhaka's Aftab Ahmed put up a brilliant effort and scored 30 from 24 balls. His innings was adorned with three boundaries and two huge sixes, before Syed Mohammad's delivery uprooted his stumps.
After 10 overs, Dhaka Warriors were on 80 for 2 with a reasonable average of eight runs per over.
The Dhaka team's downfall started when Alok Kapali (3) and skipper Habibul Bashar (4) were dismissed by D Kumaran in the 12th over.
Trying to arrest the downfall of his team, Dhiman Ghosh paired with Farhad Reza to add 28 quick runs off 27 balls which helped Dhaka post a fighting total. Dhiman was unbeaten on 21 off 23 balls, while Farhad made 12 from 12 balls before being dismissed by G Vignesh, who took two wickets for 25 runs.
Chennai bowler Kumaran bagged two wickets for 32, while teammates Jesuraj and Mohammad got one wicket each.
Chasing the target, Harvey scored a delectable 28 off just 13 balls, and was creditably supported by Vignesh, who made 25 runs from 10 deliveries. It took only 22 deliveries to post the 61-run opening partnership for Chennai.
Both batsmen left the Dhaka team's opening bowlers, Manjural Islam and Tapas Baisya, completely clueless for quite sometime. Harvey struck two boundaries and three sixes, while Vignesh's knock hit the boundary rope on five occasions.
Harvey was later dismissed by Mosharraf Hossain, while Mohammad Rafique sent Vignesh back to the pavilion, giving the Dhaka team relief.
After the opening stand was broken, Jesuraj tried to carry the flag and lifted two of Hossain's successive deliveries over the boundary. But his effort came to an end when he missed the line of Rafique's delivery and was bowled for 12 off seven balls.
At this stage, Russel Arnold paired with Hemanth Kumar to produce a 54-run partnership, which ended when Hemanth (21) was dismissed by Alok Kapali.
Arnold wrapped up the match with a huge six and remained unbeaten on 42 off the same number of balls, helping his team reach 148 for four.
Syed Mohammad, who took one wicket for 12 in four overs, was declared man of the match.
For Dhaka, Rafique bagged two wickets, while Mosharraf and Alok took a wicket each.
