Mohali. 25 June, 2024 : Led by an exceptional 117-run opening wicket stand between Abhay Chaudhary (92 off 54) and captain Prabhsimran Singh (40 off 26), Trident Stallions registered a convincing one-sided 57-run win over Agri King’s Knights in the first semi-final of the ongoing second “Sher-e-Punjab T20 Cup” being organised by the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Tuesday.
On winning the toss, Knights opted to bowl. Batting first, Stallions posted a huge total of 203/8 in 20 overs with their openers doing the maximum scoring in the scorching heat. Abhay Chaudhary, who has been in a sublime touch with the bat, started the proceedings on an attacking note. Along with the captain, Abhay hammered the opposition bowlers all over the park. The duo added 117 runs of the opening-wicket in 10.4 overs. Prabhsimran was the first one to go back after scoring 40 off 26 balls. Thereafter, Abhay took the charge and did bulk of the scoring. Sumit Sharma took Abhay’s prized wicket in the 17th over. By that time, damage had been done as Abhay blasted 92 off 54 balls which included 12 hits to the fence and two sixes at the strike-rate of 170. Ramandeep Singh scored 18 runs before he was sent packing by Sumit. Later batting at number five, Sahil Sharma provided a flip to the Stallions total by scoring unbeaten 34 runs off 12 balls.
For the Knights, Varinder Singh Lohat (3/7) and Sumit (3/39) were the main wicket-takers.
In reply, Knights failed to achieve the target.
Gurwinder Bhullar emerged as the bowling star for Stallions, as he removed both the in-form openers Sahaj Dhawan and Abhishek Sharma within the first three balls of the first over. Both could not open their respective batting accounts. Thereafter, Yuvi Goyal (19) and Varinder Lohat (49) formed a small partnership to steady the innings. Gurnoor Brar removed Yuvi while Shubham Rana bagged Varinder’s wicket. Once Mandeep Singh was back in the dressing room scoring six, it was almost over for the Knights. Aryan Bhatia (15) and Sumit Sharma (8) remained unbeaten for the losing team. Agri King's Knights lost all wickets for 146 runs in 19.5 overs.
Gurwinder took three while Gurnoor and Shubham took two wickets each for the Stallions.
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