Defending champions walk away with second Sher-e-Punjab T20 Cup

Riding high on Harpreet Brar’s late cameo (19 off six balls), BLV Blasters chased down the target of 205 runs set up by Trident Stallions to win the second Sher-e-Punjab T20 Cup in the final held at the IS Bindra Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali on Thursday.

Needing 12 runs off the last six balls, Harpreet used his experience to score the required runs off Ramandeep Singh’s over with two balls to spare. His cameo included three sixes. Blasters beat Stallions by four wickets to walk away with the title.

The 108-runs partnership between opener Harnoor Pannu (83 off 52) and Anmol Malhotra (58 off 33) led the foundation for the successful chase. Harnoor played a stellar innings to show off his mettle as the left-handed batter hit four boundaries and six sixes. With this knock Harnoor scored highest 578 runs in the tournament to take the red cap. The 21-year-old lad who was part of the India U-19 World Cup winning India team in 2022, went after the Stallions bowlers and for the first time any team could chase 200-plus targets in the tournament. Anmol too played a tremendous knock to take his team near the target. When their partnership broke with Anmol getting out in the 17 over, the pressure came on Harnoor but with Harpreet slated to come afterwards, the tone for the chase was set. The IPL cricketer Harpreet played well to carve out an impressive win for the Blasters. Stallions dropped catches in the death overs from where Blasters emerged as the champions.

Batting first, Trident Stallions posted a huge total 204/5 in 20 overs with Salil Arora leading the charge scoring unbeaten 78 off just 33 balls at a strike-rate of 236. Batting at number four, Salil’s brilliant knock included six fours and five towering sixes. Earlier, Stallions captain Prabhsimran opened the innings with Abhay Choudhary and scored 50 runs off 31 balls. Abhay failed to deliver the goods in the match as he could score just 10 runs off nine balls. His wicket was taken by medium-pacer Aradhya Shukla. Aditya Pratap Singh was batting well when he was clean bowled by Simranjeet Singh Gharu. He made useful 25 off 24 balls to bolster his team hitting five boundaries. Simranjeet Singh Gharu sent Prabhsimran also back, bringing the spotlight on Salil and Ramandeep Singh. Salil and Ramandeep stitched a superb 47-run partnership to help their team cross the 200-run mark. Aradhya removed Ramandeep for 22 runs. His 17-ball 22 had two fours and one six. It was Salil’s effort which propelled Stallions to 204 in 20 overs. For the Blasters, Aradhya (2/40) and Simranjeet Singh Gharu (2 for 27) were the main wicket-takers.

Blasters captain Naman Dhir lifted the winners’ trophy and the team also won ₹25 lakh while Stallions, the runners-up team, got ₹15 lakh.