Lahore Lions outgun Mumbai Indians

The Lahore Lions upstaged the Mumbai Indians by six wickets in Saturday's key Champions League Twenty20 qualifying fixture at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur.

The Lahore Lions upstaged the Mumbai Indians by six wickets in Saturday's key Champions League Twenty20 qualifying fixture at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur.

The Indian outfit were severely hampered by the collective insufficiency of opener Lendl Simmons, the hard-hitting Ambati Rayudu and captain Kieron Pollard, who perished for just seven, three and six respectively.

The final total of 135 for seven, in fact, would have read considerably less – had aspiring all-rounders Praveen Kumar and Harbhajan Singh not dug in down the order. The pair shared 38 valuable runs, as the Lions' bowling at the death of the innings was found wanting.

The Pakistan unit's pursuit was powered a dominant stand between openers Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad. Jamshed struck a quickfire 26 to Shehzad's complementary 34.

Mumbai's spinners enjoyed some success in slow conditions, but not enough to prevent an enterprising 38 not out from just 18 deliveries – a quartet of fine fours and twin sixes – from the cavalier Umar Akmal.

His Man of the Match vigil completed triumph with all of eight deliveries to spare. Lahore, arguably, will face a considerably tougher challenge against the Northern Districts from New Zealand at the same venue on Sunday.

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