Chasing a modest target of 138, Dhaka Warriors opener Shahriar Nafees played a brilliant 73 run knock to guide his team to an easy eight wicket win over Chandigarh Lions in the Indian Cricket League T20 match at the Tau devi Lal Stadium in Gurgaon on Friday night.
The left-handed 22-year-old hit ten boundaries and a six in his match-winning knock that came off just 60 balls.
Nafees and his right-handed opening partner Nazimuddin were involved in a 53-run partnership for the Warriors before a brilliant catch in the deep by Amit Uniyal of the bowling of left arm slow Bipul Sharma brought Nazimmudin's (23)innings to an end.
Bipul had the Warriors in a spot of bother for a while as he struck again, dismissing Aftab Ahmed (5). However, Nafees and Alok Kapali (32) batted with patience and achieved the target in the 18th over.
Earlier, put into bat first, the Lions, playing before a thin home crowd, started on a confident note, but soon lost the plot.
After Mohammed Sharif took the first Lions wicket, sending T P Singh back to pavilion (1-25), they lost three more of their top order batsman in quick succession and were in deep trouble at one stage on 4-45 in the seventh over.
With the pitch favouring slow bowlers, Warriors slow left arm bowlers Mohammed Rafique (4-0-28-3) and Moshraff Hossain (4-0-17-2) emerged the best.
Hossain had Lions skipper Andrew Hall (29) bowled when the latter was looking well set, but Bipul Sharma (30) made a useful contribution holding the fort till the end before being the ninth batsman to fall getting stump out of Rafique's bowling.
The Warriors have three wins from six matches while the Lions have won three from their five outings, both still in the reckoning for a semi-final berth.
