A fantastic 64 off 32 balls by Naved-ul Hassan steered Lahore Badshahs to a five-wicket victory over Dahaka Warriors in the Indian Cricket League Twenty20 Championship, at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday night.
Chasing a modest 145, Badshahs completed their task in 16.1 overs, scoring 149 with five wickets to spare.
Badshahs did not have a good opening as they lost opener Imran Farhat in the second over with just three runs on the board. Imran Nazir and Naved-ul Hassan then put up a useful partnership of 53 runs for the second wicket.
Nazir was out after scoring 27, leaving Badshahs at 56 for 2 in the fifth over.
But Hassan's brilliant innings, comprising six sixes and four fours, paved the ground for an easy victory. Mohammad Yousuf came in for a shot while but scored 12 runs.
Skipper Inzamam-ul Haq, who joined Hassan in the sixth over, remained unbeaten on 27. Hassan was out in the 12th over, with Badshahs 121 for 4. Inzamam (27) and Azhar Mahmood (5) remained unbeaten as Badshahs reached their target in the 17th over.
For Warriors, Rapash Baisya and Mohammad Rafique claimed two wickets each.
Earlier, Lahore Bhadshahs won the toss and elected to field.
The Warriors openers got off to a cautious start and built a useful 51-run partnership for the first wicket, before Nazimuddin was out in the eighth over after scoring 20 off 22 balls.
Opener Shahriar Nafees was out for 35 (4x5) in the 12th over after another 40-run partnership with Aftab Ahmed.
But Warriors lost two quick wickets in the next over, leaving them at 94 for 4 in the 13th over.
Skipper Habibul Basher was unbeaten on 17 with Mohammad Sharif on 8 on completion of their 20 overs.
Badshahs conceded 24 extras, which helped swell Warriors' total to 145 for the loss of seven wickets.
For Badshahs, Naved-ul Hasan and Saqlain Mustaq took three wickets each.
