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Another century for the unstoppable Guri, and one for Preetaj

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Punjab Lions' centurion Gurpartap Singh in action

By Richard Boxall

Punjab Lions captain Gurpartap Singh was in the runs again on Sunday in the 2022 CCA #BAOGroup T20 Cup, hitting his second consecutive century and his third of the campaign – and he also made 99 in another game. His run tally now stands at 621 at an average of 77 and a strike rate of 243 – almost two and a half runs per ball.

Not surprisingly, his latest effort, at the Ypsonas cricket ground, enabled his team to beat Sri Lanka Lions comfortably by 6 wickets with 7 overs to spare. The Limassol-based Sri Lankan team put up a reasonable-looking score of 187-5, thanks to Chamal Sadun’s 77 and Sujith Tennekoon’s 38, and then took a wicket with the first ball of Punjab Lions’ innings.

But then Gurpartap added 102 with Sunil Sharma (41) and another 62 with Neeraj Tiwari, before retiring on 108, which was scored off 41 balls with 9 sixes and 11 fours. Kulwinder Singh quickly finished the game with two sixes. The result cements the Lions’ place at the top of the super-6 standings.

At the other end of the table, nine-man Napa Kings gained their first victory, beating Markhor by one wicket, but remain rooted to the bottom due to their inferior run rate. In a match reduced to 16 overs, they chased down their target of 172 with just two balls to spare.

Tanvir Taariq carried them to victory almost single-handed, hitting 90 off just 31 balls. But when he was out 23 were still needed with just two wickets in hand. Jugraj Singh and Ali Ali inched them towards their goal, but when Jugraj was run out in the last over two runs were still needed from three balls. A single and a wide saw them home, leaving Markhor disappointed after scoring 171-5, led by an unbeaten 60 from their captain Amir Sohail.

In the last quarter final of the Summer T10 Cup, Limassol Zalmi beat Nicosia Fighters by 4 wickets to claim a place in the semi finals. The Fighters were indebted to Abdullah Al Tasmin’s 26-ball 52 as they posted 98-9 from their 10 overs.

For Zalmi Shayan Khan followed his spell of 2-13 by top-scoring with 31 from 13 balls. After his dismissal his captain Muhammad Farooq completed the job with 22 not out from just 7 balls, the victory coming with 7 balls to spare.

On Saturday Amdocs gained an impressive 55-run win over Cyprus Moufflons in the 40-over league. Amdocs had a great start, with Preetaj Deol enjoying partnerships of 77 with Gaurav Singh Sagwan, 63 with Vimal Khanduri, and 91 with Hitesh Thadani on his way to 102. Hitesh continued to the end, finishing on 88 not out from 55 balls, as Amdocs totalled 314-9.

Gurdeep Sharma, who had the best Moufflons bowling figures of 3-40, also made their top score of 67. Mehran Khan made 59 from 38 balls, but the rest of the batting lineup failed to contribute significantly, and the team was all out for 259, with Vimal Khanduri the most successful bowler with 3-44.

Next weekend sees the last T20 super-6 match – Cyprus Moufflons v Sri Lanka Lions; the two T10 semi-finals – Riyaan v Limassol Zalmi and Nicosia Tigers v Limassol Qalandars; and two more matches in the 40-over league – Royal v Cyprus Super Kings and Sri Lankans v Sri Lanka Lions, always a keenly anticipated match!

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