Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Anmolpreet’s ton powers Punjab to maiden title

MOHALI: Ton-up Anmolpreet Singh dished out an unbelievable exhibition of power-hitting before India seamer Arshdeep Singh used all his experience to power Punjab to its maiden title triumph in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament with a 20-run win over Baroda here on Monday.

Anmolpreet blazed away to 113 off 61 balls while Nehal Wadhera smashed 61 in 27 deliveries to propel Punjab to an imposing 223 for 4 in the allotted 20 overs.

In reply, Baroda was stopped at 203 for 7, thanks largely to left-arm seamer Arshdeep (4/23), who picked up three wickets in the decisive 19th over to seal the issue in his team’s favour.

Punjab struck nine sixes and three fours off the last 21 balls and racked up 143 runs in the back 10, which proved to be the deciding factor in the end, besides Arshdeep’s exploits with the ball.

Punjab opted to bat first after winning the toss as the idea was to put up a big score and put the opposition under pressure in the final.

It worked beautifully for Punjab as the four-time finalist found its man in Anmolpreet, who raced to his hundred in only 58 balls at the PCA Stadium that wore a deserted look despite hosting a final of the premier domestic tournament.

Baroda enjoyed a dream start to the final as Soyeb Sopariya dismissed in-form opener Abhishek Sharma in the very first ball of the match, the ball moving away from middle and leg and the batter did not fully commit himself to the shot to end up hitting the ball towards extra cover where Jyotsnil Singh completed a brilliant catch

Brief scores: Punjab 223/4 in 20 overs (A Singh 113, N Wadhera 61*) bt Baroda 203/7 in 20 overs (A Rajput 61, N Rathva 47, K Pandya 45 Arshdeep Singh 4/23)