Disciplined Chennai defeat Hyderabad

Chennai Superstars defeated Hyderabad Heroes by 18 runs in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) Twenty20 Championship at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

Chasing a target of 161 set by the Superstars, the Heroes were restricted to 142 for nine in their allotted 20 overs.

Heroes started off on the wrong foot, losing the wicket of opener Abdul Razzaq (4) in the second over followed by wickets off successive balls in the next over with only 22 runs on the board.

Nicky Boje, who came at number five, gave them a glimer of hope before he was run out for a qucik-fire 38.

Ibrahim Khaleel played some wonderful strokes to get the scoreboard moving but the fall of wickets at the opposite end did not help his cause. Heroes could only garner 142 for nine in their allotted 20 overs.

Discipline was the order of the day for the Superstars, as their brilliant fielding complemented tight line and length from the bowlers.

Shabbir Ahmed, Rajamani Jesuraj and Nantie Hayward bagged two wickets each for the Superstars to pave way for victory.

Earlier, Superstars won the toss and elected to bat.

Ian Harvey and Ganapathi Vignesh putting up a 70-run opening wicket stand.

Harvey smashed the ball round the field, hitting five sixes and three fours. Unfortunately he missed his half century by just one run and got out on 49 in the sixth over.

Vignesh too got out in the ninth over scoring 32 runs in 27 balls.

The middle order could not maintain the momentum and the Superstars found themselves reduced to 109 for four in 13th over.

Skipper Stuart Law (12) and Hemanth Kumar (11) helped the Superstars reach a reasonable total of 160 all out in 19.3 overs.

Brief Scores:

Chennai Superstars: 160 all out in 19.3 overs (Harvey 49, Vignesh 32, Harris 3-17)

Hyderabad Heroes: 142-9 in 20 overs (Boje 38, Khaleel 29, Jesuraj 2-16, Ahmed 2-38)