Trident Cup T-20 Cricket Tournament: Abhishek Sharma stars in Punjab Red win

Ludhiana: IPL player Abhishek Sharma scored a power packed century 115 runs of 85 balls studded with 09 fours and 09 sixes and shared an opening partnership of 139 runs with another IPL player Prabhsimran Singh  55 runs in 43 balls ( 03 fours and 02 sixes )in their last league match against Malwa Heroes at Hara Cricket ground, Ludhiana. The duo helped their team pile up a huge total of 216 runs for the loss of 03 wickets in the allotted 20 overs.  Gurkeerat Mann and Anmolpreet singh contributed 13 runs and 18 n.o. for their team. This was the first century of the tournament  and was a treat to watch.  Earlier Punjab Red won the toss and decide to bat on a bright sunny day. Malwa Heroes bowlers had no clue of what is happening to them and just went on with motions. Suchit  goel was their successful bowler with figures of  4-0-39 -2 wkts.

A fine spell of swing bowling by India player Sandeep Sharma 3-0-07-3 wkts and left arm spinner Abhishek Sharma 3-0-22-02 wkts restricted the Malwa Heroes batting to 111 for 7 wkts in 20 overs, thus winning the game for their team by a huge margin of 105 runs. It was totally a one sided contest fully dominated by star studded Punjab Red boys.

Abhishek Sharma of Punjab Red was adjudged Man of the Match for his allround  display of batting 115 runs and 02 wickets. S Sukhjit Singh Hara, Mayor Sahnewal and partner of Hara Cricket Academy, Ludhiana gave the Man of the Match award.
Brief Score :-
•        Punjab Red :-  216 for 3 in 20 overs
•        Abhishek Sharma – 115 runs in 85 balls
•        Prabhsimran Singh- 55 runs in 43 balls 
•        Bowling :-Suchit Goyal – 4-0-39-2 wkts
•        Malwa Heroes :- 111 for 7 wkts in 20 overs
•        Sharandeep Singh- 38 runs of 41 balls ( 4 fours , 01 six)
•        Bowling :- Sandeep Sharma – 3-0-07-3 wkts
•        Abhishek Sharma – 3-0-22-2 wkts
•        Mayank Markande – 4-0-11-1 wkt
•        Krishan Kumar – 4-0-25- 1 wkt
 
Punjab Red topped their group with 03 wins and 06 points and qualifies for the Semi finals.
 
In the another crucial match at GRD Academy ground Punjab Blue beat Ludhiana XI to enter Semis
Ludhiana XI won the toss and decided to field first. This was a must win game for Punjab Blues to qualify for the semis and they did it in style.  Ludhiana bowlers made some early inroads and Punjab Blues were tottering at 45 for 03 wkts . However a useful partnership of 59 runs for the 4th wicket between Karan Kaila 66 not out of 48 balls (3 fours and 3 sixes) and Aarush sabharwal 27 runs in 19 balls ( 3 fours) steadied their ining . Later on Geetansh Khera played a cameo of 34 runs in 16 balls (4 fours) and carried his team’s total to safety at 186 for 5 in 20 overs. No bowler of Ludhiana proved effective.

Ludhiana XI required 166 runs in 20 overs to qualify for semifinals as per run quotient and even after losing the match could have qualified if they had made 166 runs in 20 overs. However, this was not to happen as they were restricted to 128 for 5 wkts in 20 overs by the experienced bowling line up of Punjab blues. For Ludhiana XI , opener Gurjot Singh 30 runs of 42 balls , Kashish Panseja  30 runs of 20 balls and Arjun Puri 22 runs of 24 balls  batted well but were unable to win it for their team. Karan Kaila, Rahul Sharma and Barinder Sran were quite economical in their bowling. Punjab Blues won the game by 58 runs and qualified for the semi finals.

Karan Kaila of Punjab Blues was adjudged Man of the Match for his all round performance.
 
Semi Final Line up on 26-12-2020 :-
Punjab Red vs Punjab Blues at  GRD academy ground, Ludhiana
Amandeep Cricket Club, Amritsar vs Jalandhar XI at Hara Cricket ground , Ludhiana.