Punjab Lions win thriller against Sri Lankans

By Richard Boxall

The new cricket season had its first classic match when MSN Punjab Lions held on for a 3-run win over Sri Lankans at Ypsonas in the BAOFinancial T20 League presented by HurryCurry.

The Lions set a stiff target of 199-6, with skipper Neeraj Tiwari top-scoring on 67 and six other scores in double figures. The first Sri Lankan wicket fell in the first over of their reply, before WCP Wellage and captain Chandana Prartana added 57.

Chandana was then joined by the Sri Lankans’ new all-rounder Supan Delpathadu, who had earlier sent down an economical spell of fast left arm bowling , conceding only 19 runs in his 4 overs. The pair made a heroic effort to chase down their target and remained together until the end.

The final over arrived with 19 runs still needed, and the batters managed 15, finishing on a very impressive 196-2. Supan’s score on debut was 80 from 53 balls and Chandana’s 65 from 43. After this near miss Sri Lankans will be hoping to enjoy a successful season and a return to former glories.

It was a good day for Punjabi teams, as Punjabi Kings gained a 3-wicket win over Limassol Qalandars. Akram Khan’s 4-14 and Sukhwinder Singh’s 3-32 reduced Qalandars to 121 all out, with only Muhammad Qasim with 46 making a significant score.

The Kings also struggled with the bat and appeared likely to lose at 44-6 (Numan Munir 3-36). The stage was set for Ravi Gill, who earlier bowled tightly with 2-11 from 4 overs, to play a match-winning knock of 49 not out, and the target was reached in the 16th over at 122-7.

The day’s highest score was achieved by Sri Lanka Lions who amassed 248-6 in their 20 overs against Napa Kings. Akila De Silva (85 including 8 sixes) and Srinath Rajith (81 from just 35 balls) put on 147 for the third wicket as the Lions piled on the misery for the Kings, who managed 137-8 in reply, with opener Mohamad Ikram batting until the last over for 69 but without much support.

Markhor gained a significant 32-run victory over Royal. After a poor start, losing their first four wickets for 24, a good recovery was made by Shah Khalid who hit 70 from 48 balls, and despite Karan Singh’s 3-27 with his left-arm spin, Markhor reached a reasonable 153-8 by the end of their innings.

Royal had not learned their lesson from the previous week. They were again penalised with reduced overs due to a late start, so that they had only 16 overs in which to chase their target. Last week’s centurion Umar Shah demonstrated the ups and downs of cricket by falling first ball, and the innings subsided to 121 all out, with Markhor’s Junaid Ur Rahman taking 4-33.

This weekend the programme hots up, with the 40 Over league starting on Saturday and a further round of T20 matches on Sunday.