Chennai Superstars became the first champs of the ICL. They beat Chandigarh Lions by 12 runs to lift the inaugural ICL cup. It was a thrilling encounter and the match went to the wire. Chris cains won the toss and elected to field first. His decision back-fired when Tuffey was sent off for two fours and a six of his over by Ganapathy. But his flourish was ended the very next ball by Tuffey himself. Chris Read and Ian Harvey looked to take the game away from the Lions. They had a brilliant partnership of 43 runs in just 31 balls. Read was dismissed by a blinder from the wicket keeper Sarabjeet Singh. He threw the ball with only a single stump to hit for, Read was confident that it will not hit. But unfortunately he has to go back to the pavilion. Russel Arnold followed him after making just seven runs for him. Later on in the innings Stuart Law and Badhani added some valuble contribution to present them a defendable target. Chennai Superstars managed 155 for 8 in their alloted 20 overs.
Shabbir Ahemed began the proceedings in the bowling department. He drew first blood by dismissing the in-form Imran Farhat, the score was just 6 then. Shabbir Ahemed returned to scalp the wicket of Hamish Marshall. Lions were in deep trouble with just 19 for the loss of 2 wickets. Manish Sharma was castled by Kumaran. But T P Singh joined hands with Dinesh Mongia for the Lion's roar. Their partnership was worth 36 runs before Tejendhar Pal Singh departed. It appeared that Chandigarh Lions will definitely win the match when Andrew Hall and Sarabjeet Singh was playing but the superstars controlled them well and brought the match to the very last over. Atlast, Singh got out and Chennai superstars tasted victory. Shabbir Ahemed was awarded man of the match while Harvey went away with the man of the series award. This ended the interesting and enchanting 20:20 championship that was held for the past couple of weeks. ICL is all set to organize a 50 over tournament and several other fixtures. They released their itinerary for 2008 which included a domestic cup and 20:20 championships, with the participation of 2 other teams, which will be invited later by ICL.
Shabbir Ahemed began the proceedings in the bowling department. He drew first blood by dismissing the in-form Imran Farhat, the score was just 6 then. Shabbir Ahemed returned to scalp the wicket of Hamish Marshall. Lions were in deep trouble with just 19 for the loss of 2 wickets. Manish Sharma was castled by Kumaran. But T P Singh joined hands with Dinesh Mongia for the Lion's roar. Their partnership was worth 36 runs before Tejendhar Pal Singh departed. It appeared that Chandigarh Lions will definitely win the match when Andrew Hall and Sarabjeet Singh was playing but the superstars controlled them well and brought the match to the very last over. Atlast, Singh got out and Chennai superstars tasted victory. Shabbir Ahemed was awarded man of the match while Harvey went away with the man of the series award. This ended the interesting and enchanting 20:20 championship that was held for the past couple of weeks. ICL is all set to organize a 50 over tournament and several other fixtures. They released their itinerary for 2008 which included a domestic cup and 20:20 championships, with the participation of 2 other teams, which will be invited later by ICL.
