Lucknow – The first-ever edition of the Pratima Singh Memorial Cricket Tournament reached its exhilarating semifinals, with two thrilling matches played at the Carrier Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. Spectators were treated to an exciting display of cricket as the four teams battled it out for a place in the grand finale.
In the first semifinal, Supernova and BWA squared off in what proved to be a nail-biting contest. Supernova’s captain Jasmeet won the toss and opted to field first, inviting BWA to bat. BWA posted a challenging total of 144 runs in their allotted 20 overs, losing 8 wickets in the process. The key contributions came from Abhishek Saini (32 runs), Rohit Kant (29 runs), Tanmay Khurana (18 runs), Umar Akhtar (12 runs), and a quick-fire 28 runs off just 11 balls by Abhishek Pandey.
In reply, Supernova showed remarkable resilience, chasing down the target with ease in the 19th over, losing only 6 wickets in the process. Avinash Singh and Mohammad Sharif both scored 31 runs each, while Arun Singh played a crucial knock of 34 runs, guiding his team to victory. Harshit Tiwari was awarded the ‘Man of the Match’ for his outstanding bowling performance, while Arun Singh was named the ‘Best Batter’ and Rohit Kant the ‘Best Bowler’ of the match.
The second semifinal saw a high-voltage contest between CID and Career Lions. CID won the toss and chose to bowl first. Career Lions put up a massive total of 185 runs in their 20 overs, thanks to brilliant knocks by Azeem Rahman (37 runs) and Mohan Yadav (58 runs). CID’s Sushant Malik was the standout bowler, taking 4 wickets for 35 runs in his 4-over spell, causing significant damage to the Lions’ batting lineup.
In response, CID’s chase was nothing short of thrilling. After a solid start from Mohammad Azam and Shahid Khan, Shailendra Singh and captain Swami kept their team’s hopes alive with crucial innings. Captain Swami played a brilliant knock of 50 runs off 36 balls and struck a boundary off the final ball, clinching a dramatic win for CID and securing their place in the final. Sushant Malik was awarded ‘Man of the Match’ for his impressive bowling, while Mohan Yadav was named ‘Best Batter’ and Azeem Rahman received the ‘Best Bowler’ award.
Tournament organizer Chandan Singh announced that the much-awaited final match of the Pratima Singh Memorial Cricket Tournament will take place on 2nd February at 12:30 PM at the Jaipuria Cricket Ground in Lucknow. He extended an open invitation to all cricket enthusiasts to witness the thrilling conclusion of what has been an action-packed tournament.
As the stage is set for the final, all eyes will be on the two formidable teams that have made it through the semifinals, and the excitement is sure to reach a fever pitch as they battle for the championship title.
