Razzaq bludgeons Leicestershire to unlikely win

Hoggard amazed at all-rounder’s brilliant effort in Friends Life T20.

KARACHI:

Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq propelled Leicestershire to a most stunning win over Lancashire with a brutal innings in the Friends Life T20 tournament.

Razzaq hit an unbeaten 62 from 30 balls as the Foxes, who needed 63 off the last four overs, won with a ball to spare.Chasing a Duckworth-Lewis revised target of 165 from 19 overs, Leicestershire had slumped to 99 for six in the 15th over.

The hard-hitting all-rounder then entered the fray and clubbed five sixes and three fours in his whirlwind innings. He combined with tail-ender Wayne White as the pair shared an unbroken 66 runs for the seventh wicket.

Razzaq took the hosts’ captain Steven Croft apart when he bludgeoned him for 25 runs off the only over he bowled, that eventually propelled his team to an unlikely win.

Earlier, Lancashire had got off to a flier, thanks to an 88-run opening partnership between Stephen Moore and Tom Smith. Moore top-scored with a run-a-ball 48, while Smith made 45. Claude Henderson and Joshua Cobb took two wickets each to put the brakes on the scoring as the hosts ended on 162.

But the star of the show was undoubtedly Razzaq, who showed his class when the chips were down. His innings was an obvious source of amazement for his captain Matthew Hoggard.

“I thought we might’ve bitten off more than we can chew but Razzaq had other ideas and came in and did some serious hitting,” Hoggard told the ecb.co.uk website.



Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2011.