Fazilka Falcons ended their Sher-E-Punjab T20 League campaign with a convincing 49-run victory over Bathinda Royals. However, the win was not enough to take them into the semi-finals, as they missed out on qualification despite finishing their campaign with a strong performance.
Batting first, Fazilka Falcons posted an impressive total of 244/6 in their 20 overs. The team suffered an early setback when star batter Shubman Gill was dismissed for only 9 runs. Despite his early departure, Fazilka quickly recovered and continued to score at a high rate.
Vihaan Malhotra and Pranshu Pratap played an important role in rebuilding the innings. The pair added 94 runs together and gave Fazilka the momentum they needed. Pranshu was especially aggressive during his innings, scoring 64 runs from just 22 balls. His quick scoring helped Fazilka maintain a strong run rate.
Sanvir Singh then produced another important contribution, scoring 74 runs. His innings helped Fazilka push the total beyond the 240-run mark and set Bathinda Royals a huge target of 245 runs to win.
Bathinda Royals started their chase positively. Harnoor Singh and Uday Saharan put together an 87-run partnership, giving their team hope of chasing down the difficult target. However, once the partnership was broken, Bathinda began losing wickets regularly.
The Royals struggled to maintain the required scoring rate and eventually finished their 20 overs at 194/8. They fell 49 runs short of Fazilka’s total, giving the Falcons a comfortable victory.
Despite winning the match, Fazilka’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals depended on the final score of Bathinda Royals. Fazilka needed Bathinda to finish on 162 runs or fewer in order to move into the next stage. Since Bathinda managed to score 194 runs, Fazilka failed to secure the required qualification margin.
As a result, Fazilka Falcons’ tournament journey came to an end despite their impressive final victory. Jalandhar Warriors and Amritsar Soormas secured their places in the semi-finals, while Fazilka were left to reflect on a campaign in which they finished strongly but narrowly missed out on a place in the knockout stage.