Lahore Lions vs. Dolphins, CLT20: Scorecard and Report

Lahore Lions bagged a victory in the group stages of the Champions League Twenty20 after holding off the Dolphins to win by 16 runs in Bangalore.

Batting first after winning the toss, the Lions were indebted to a superb innings of 73 from just 45 balls from Umar Akmal to rescue their score and propel them to 164-5 from their 20 overs.

The Dolphins responded poorly in the chase though Robbie Frylinck's magic with bat and ball deserved better—he was ultimately left stranded on 63 from 27 balls.

With three defeats in three, the South African team's hopes of advancing are over while Lahore's victory still gives them a tall order to qualify from Group A.

The top order began atrociously; openers Ahmed Shehzad and Nasir Jamshed were both victims of the impressive Flylinck, who went on to take 3-22 from his four overs.

With Mohammad Hafeez and Agha Salman also making little impression, the struggling Lions were reeling at 34-4 after 7.2 overs of their innings, and a competitive total looked a long way off.

Enter Akmal. The tenacious batsman found compelling support from Saad Nasim, who struck three sixes in an innings of 43, but it was Akmal who stole the show.

He drove down the ground and over the top with authority, ran hard and turned the match around.

"

STATS: 164-5 is Lahore Lions highest score in this tournament, last week they scored 164-6 vs Northern Knights in... http://t.co/HiASEZnrOz

— Jila Watan (@Cric_Pak) September 27, 2014"

The Dolphins made just as shaky a start, however. Cameron Delport was bowled for a golden duck by Hafeez's off-spin while Cody Chetty and Keshav Maharaj combined for two runs between them.

Had it not been for the fluency of Morne van Wyk, the chase could have been over before it ever truly began. His string of boundaries, however, kept the scoreboard ticking over while the carnage played out at the other end.

Van Wyk departed after slicing a wide ball from Nasim for 36, and though Jonathan Vandiar had got a start and drilled a lengthy six, when he picked out the man at deep midwicket, the Dolphins were in deep trouble at 74-5 with just eight overs to play.

Defeat was inevitable although Frylinck, celebrating his birthday, did his best to turn the game around with a superb cameo. There were boundaries and maximums aplenty as he scored freely in the final wicket partnership.

Hitting Aizaz Cheema for 26 runs in a single over, Frylinck suddenly had a half-century from just 20 balls.

But a miracle comeback was just one ask too much, and defeat eventually came.