Sher-e-Punjab T20 cup: Captain Anmolpreet powers Royal Phantoms to win
Anmolpreet’s brilliant innings included six boundaries and six sixes but he was removed by medium-pacer Abhinav Sharma in the 19th over.
Playing a captain’s knock, Anmolpreet Singh hit a 56-ball innings of 90 runs, to power Royal Phantoms to a facile 57-run win over Intersoft Titans in a match played during the ongoing second Sher-e-Punjab T20 Cup being organised by the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Friday.
Anmolpreet’s brilliant innings included six boundaries and six sixes. He was removed by medium-pacer Abhinav Sharma in the 19th over.
Batting first, Phantoms posted 176/4 in 20 overs. In reply, Titans could make 119/9 in their allotted 20 overs with Vikrant Rana (2/29), Kunwar Kuckreja (2/14) and Kartik Chadha (2/12) taking two wickets each for the winning team.
For Phantoms, Anmolpreet and opener Jaskaranveer Paul contributed well in the batting department.
Jaskaranveer batted well to score 34-ball 42 and ably supported the captain. The duo added 102 runs for the second-wicket stand. Both were sent packing on Abhinav’s bowling. Abhinav also accounted for in-form Sohraab Dhaliwal’s (5) wicket. He claimed three wickets, giving away 31 runs.
In reply, Titans kept losing wickets at regular intervals and in the end lost the plot of the chase. Captain Vishwanath Pratap Singh made a dismal 16 runs. It was number nine and ten batters, Tejpreet Singh (24) and Siddharth Kaul (23 not out), who played cameos in the Titans innings. However, that was not enough.
Anmol Malhotra’s fiery 61-ball 128 enabled BLV Blasters to beat Agri King’s Knights by 44 runs in the second game played on Friday. Anmol’s superb innings had 11 massive sixes and 15 boundaries. His century is the first ton of the second Sher-e-Punjab T20 Cup. Batting first, Blasters scored 213/9 in 20 overs. In reply, Knights made 169/8 in 20 overs. Sahaj Dhawan scored the highest 48 off 31 balls. Captain Abhishek Sharma got out on nine. Mandeep Singh’s knock of 40 runs off 25 balls went in vain as Knights lost the game.
Former India opener and Punjab captain Navjot Singh Sidhu, who is doing commentary during the ongoing T20 World Cup in the US and WI, said, “Kudos to the Punjab Cricket Association for coming up with their own T20 league Sher-e-Punjab Cup last season. I am sure its second season is going to be more electrifying. My advice for PCA is keep such a tournament going as it makes cricket very competitive and also provides a chance to state cricketers to show their skills at the start of the season. We all saw Punjab cricket benefit from the first Sher-e-Punjab Cup as Punjab won its maiden T20 Syed Mushtaq Trophy in 2023 and dominated other states.” Navjot also praised PCA secretary Dilsher Khanna and former India spinner and PCA mentor Harbhajan Singh for conceptualising this league.
