Chandigarh Lions snatched exciting nine-run victory over Delhi Jets in the inaugural match of the Indian Cricket League Twenty20 tournament at the Devi Lal Cricket Stadium in Panchkula, Chandigarh, on Friday night.

Required to score 135 runs, Delhi Jets were grounded by Man of the Match Derryl Tuffy (3 for 15) and Andrew Hall [Images] (2 for 26) as they could muster only 125 for 6 in 20 overs.

Delhi Jets got an early jolt as Taufeeq Umar [Images] was bowled by Hall for 2 at team's total of 4.

Monish Mishra (18) and captain Marvan Atapattu (29) were associated in a 24-run stand for the second wicket before Monish Mishra was caught by Sarabjit of the bowling of Tuffey. They never recovered after that.

In the last over, 15 runs were required for victory, but Delhi Jets could muster only five runs.

Earlier, Delhi Jets won the toss and invited formidable Chandigarh Lions to bat first.

An unbeaten 31 by South African Andrew Hall and a 40-run first-wicket partnership between Imran Farhat [Images] of Pakistan and HJH Marshall of New Zealand [Images] were the highlights of Chandigarh Lions' innings.

Imran Farat was the first batsman to face the first delivery of the tournament from Abid Nabi amidst loud cheers from the packed stadium.

Imran Farat (21)and Hamish Marshall (23) put on 40 runs before the latter was caught by Benkenstein of the bowling of J P Yadav (2 for 46). Marshall went for sweep and was caught at point.

After that, Chandigarh Lions continued to lose wickets at regular intervals. However, Hall batted with courage and remained not out on 31, which included two fours in 32 deliveries.

Chris Cairns [Images] scored a breezy 22 and hit two huge sixes and two fours in 14 deliveries.

Ali Murtaza (3 for 16) and Abhishek (3 for 16) were the main wicket-takers for Delhi Jets.

Scorecard

Chandigarh Lions:
Imran Farhat run out (Abhishek Sharma) 21
HJH Marshall c Benkenstein b Yadav 23
Chetan Sharma lbw b Murtaza 18
C L Cairns b Murtaza 22
T P Singh st O'Brien b Sharma 1
A J Hall not out 31
R S Sodhi c Murtaza b Sharma 0
Sarabjit Singh c O'Brien b Murtaza 4
A Uniyal c Atapattu b Sharma 5
D R Tuffey b Yadav 1
Rajesh Sharma run out (Srivastava) 2.
Extras: (b 1, lb 1, w 3, nb 1) 6
Total: (all out in 20 overs) 134.

Fall of wickets: 1-40, 2-57, 3-88, 4-89, 5-91, 6-93, 7-105, 8-116, 9-122, 10-134.

Bowling: Abid Nabi 2-0-23-0, SJ Srivastava 4-0-35-0, Jai P Yadav 4-0-26-2, DM Benkenstein 2-0-16-0, Ali Murtaza 4-0-16-3, Abhisekh Sharma 4-0-16-3.

Delhi Jets: (target 135 runs)
Taufeeq Umar b Hall 2
Monish Mishra c Sarabjit Singh b Tuffey 18
M S Atapattu c Sodhi b Tuffey 29
D M Benkenstein c Sarabjit Singh b Tuffey 9
N J O'Brien b Uniyal 5
Jai P Yadav c Rajesh Sharma b Hall 21
S Abbas Ali not out 30
Abid Nabi not out 4.
Extras: (lb 1, w 6) 7
Total: (for 6 wickets in 20 overs) 125.

Did not bat: A Murtaza, A Sharma, SJ Srivastava.

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-32, 3-63, 4-63, 5-73, 6-110.

Bowling: A J Hall 4-0-26-2, D R Tuffey 4-0-15-3, Amit Uniyal 3-0-20-1, T P Singh 4-0-25-0, Rajesh Sharma 4-0-34-0, R S Sodhi 1-0-5-0.