Lahore Lions, the only Pakistani team in Champions League T20 in India this year on Saturday registered their first victory in the tournament’s main draw beating Nashua Dolphins of South Africa by 16 runs.

Lions had to defeat Mumbai Indians in the qualifying round to enter the main stage where they lost their first match against KKR before a washed out match against Dhoni’s CSK.

Star player Umar Akmal played beautifully and remained not out on 73. He was also named man of the match.

Openers Ahmed Shehzad and Nasir Jamshed could not provide an ideal start earlier in the day and got out cheaply in the first four overs. Captain Muhammad Hafiz also failed to put up an impressive show and was bowled by Delport on 8.

Akmal and Saad Nasim then played responsibly as the team was reeling at 34 for 4. Nasim scored 43 on 26 balls while Akmal made an aggressive 73 on only 45 balls. Lions managed 164 for 5 with an average of 8.20 in the allotted 20 overs.

Frylinck 3 wickets for 22, Delport 1 for 10 and Abbott 1 wicket for 34 remained prominent strikers for Dolphins.

In reply Nashua Dolphins were restricted at 148 for 9 with an average of 7.40 in full 20 overs.

Captain Van Wyke scored 36 runs but without any substantial support from the top order. Dolphins at one point were restricted to 56 for 4 wickets.

Frylinck then tried his best to take the team out of trouble and played aggressively for his 27-run 63 not out as the wickets kept tumbling on the other end.

Hafeez, Mustafa Iqbal and Saad Nasim took 2 wickets each, while Adnan Rasool and Wahab Riaz managed to grab a wicket each.

Earlier, after winning the toss Lions decided to bat in Bangalore, with captain Hafeez hoping the pitch would assist his spinners later in the evening. Dolphins’ skipper Morne van Wyk would have batted first as well however said that his team could have slight advantage while chasing.

The weather was sunny in Bangalore after the washout two days ago gave Lions an enforced break, something Hafeez admitted was not ideal.

Lions had brought in Agha Salman in place of Umar Siddiq from the XI that had lost to Kolkata Knight Riders in their previous match six days ago. Dolphins also made a couple of changes.

With today’s win, Lions have claimed third position in the pool ‘A’ with six points. KKR have already qualified for the semi-finals from the pool, while CSK and Lions have their games left against Perth Scorchers.