Sher-E-Punjab T20 League: Fazilka Falcons defeat Bathinda Royals by 4…

Mohali (Punjab) [India], September 11 (ANI): Fazilka Falcons ended their Sher-E-Punjab T20 League campaign with a 49-run win over Bathinda Royals at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.

However, the victory was not enough to take them into the semi-finals, as they needed to restrict Bathinda to 162 runs or less to qualify.

Batting first, Fazilka posted a mammoth 244/6 in 20 overs, thanks to a strong performance from their top and middle order, according to a press release from the Sher-E-Punjab T20 League. rocore.sbs

The Falcons suffered an early setback when star batter Shubman Gill was dismissed for just 9 off 7 balls. However, Vihaan Malhotra and Pranshu Pratap quickly took control and put the innings back on track.

The duo added 94 runs for the second wicket, attacking the Bathinda bowlers and keeping the scoring rate high. Pranshu was the more aggressive of the two and smashed 64 off just 22 balls, while Vihaan scored a well-made 53 off 29 deliveries.

With Fazilka in a strong position, Sanvir Singh took charge in the later stages of the innings. He played a superb unbeaten knock of 74 off 39 balls to give the Falcons a strong finish. Sanvir kept finding the boundaries and ensured that Fazilka continued to score freely in the final overs.

Jaiveer Bhinder added a quick 21 off 13 balls, while Eish Rao chipped in with 16 off 8 as Fazilka crossed the 240-run mark. Their efforts left Bathinda with a daunting target of 245.

In reply, Bathinda Royals lost Tavleen Singh early, but Harnoor Singh and Uday Saharan steadied the innings with an 87-run partnership for the second wicket.

The partnership gave Bathinda hope of chasing down the huge target, but Harnoor was dismissed for 19 off 17 balls, and the Royals then began losing wickets at regular intervals.

Bathinda slipped to 115/5 in the 13th over, putting them under serious pressure. Uday, who had played a key role in the middle overs, was eventually dismissed for a fighting 64 off 38 balls.

Shahbaz then kept Bathinda’s hopes alive with a brilliant 66 off 33 balls. He joined hands with Noorveer to add 59 runs for the sixth wicket, but the partnership was broken when Noorveer was dismissed for 24 off 14 balls. Gurnoor was then dismissed for a duck.

Bathinda Royals eventually finished on 194/8 in 20 overs, handing Fazilka a convincing 49-run victory.

However, Fazilka needed to restrict Bathinda to 162 or below to move ahead in the qualification race. Since Bathinda finished in 194, the Falcons could not make it to the next stage despite the win at the I.S. Bindra Stadium, which has hosted international matches in the past.

As a result, Fazilka Falcons were eliminated from the competition, while Jalandhar Warriors and Amritsar Soormas advanced to the semi-finals.

Fazilka’s campaign therefore ended on a winning note, with their batters putting up an impressive total and their bowlers securing a 49-run victory, but the margin was not enough to keep their semi-final hopes alive. (ANI)

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India vs Afghanistan 2026 1st T20: Team India are set to begin a three-match T20I series against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday, September 13. While majority of the squad as well as the support staff have already assembled in the national Capital and already started training, India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel is not among them.

In fact, former South Africa pacer Morne Morkel hasn’t event arrived in the country ahead of the T20I series against the Afghanistan. According to a report by IANS news agency, Morkel’s arrival in India has been delayed due to visa-related issues.

It is believed that Morkel is yet to receive extension on his work visa which has delayed his arrival in the country. “Morne had visa issues, but he should be here soon once it’s solved,” BCCI sources were quoted as saying by IANS news agency.

Some #TeamIndia
Bowling coach Morne Morkel was absent from Team India’s training session at Kotla. He is in South Africa and sorting his work visa renewal.
He is expected to join in a few days.#IndvAfg #IndianCricketTeam

— Kushan Sarkar (@kushansarkar) September 10, 2026

Morkel joined Team India as the bowling coach after Gautam Gambhir took over as the head coach of the side replacing Rahul Dravid. The 41-year-old claimed 309 Test wickets, 188 ODI scalps and 47 in T20I matches for South Africa in his career. He also picked up 77 wickets in 70 matches in his IPL career.

Meanwhile, it is also understood that physiotherapist Kamlesh Jain has resigned from his position with the Indian team. “About Kamlesh, it’s yet to be known when he will be here,” BCCI sources informed IANS.

Before joining the Indian team in June 2022, Kamlesh Jain previously served as the head physiotherapist after starting in an assistant role for three-time IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) from 2012 to 2022.

He also worked with Bengal senior men’s domestic team from September 2011 to March 2017. With Jain already resigning from his position, the BCCI is expected to begin the process of finding his replacement shortly.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians pacer Jasprit Bumrah joined Team India late on Thursday evening after being cleared by the Centre of Excellence (CoE) earlier in the day. Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, and young batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who were involved in the recently concluded Duleep Trophy 2026 final in Chennai, were also expected to arrive in the national Capital later in the day.

The first T20I is set to go ahead as schedule on Sunday, after the DDCA issued a statement via ‘X’ on Thursday that there was no change in the date due to BRICS event scheduled over the weekend. The clarification came after reports suggested that the opening game could be rescheduled owing to security arrangements for the high-profile BRICS summit in the national capital.

India’s updated squad for Afghanistan T20Is

Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Tilak Varma (VC), Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Yash Thakur

A brilliant knock from Shafali Verma (64 off 40) and disciplined bowling set up India to secure a 40-run victory over Bangladesh in the Women’s Asia Cup 2026 semifinal in Dubai.

With this win, India marched into their sixth final in six editions of the Women’s Asia Cup. After being invited to bat first, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma opened the innings while Marufa Akter opened the bowling attack.

Sultana Khatun bagged the first wicket, dismissing Smriti Mandhana for 2 runs. With Shafali Verma and Pratika Rawal at the crease, India went on to score 45 runs in the powerplay.

Rabeya Khan bagged the wicket of Pratika Rawal for 20 runs, while Shafali Verma smashed fifty and went on to score 64 runs off 40 deliveries.

Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma added 24 and 21 runs respectively before their dismissals. With Harmanpreet Kaur’s unbeaten 24 runs, India went on to score 149 runs in 20 overs.

Sultana Khatun bagged two wickets while Marufa Akter, Nahida Akter and Rabeya Khan bagged one wicket each.

Chasing 150 runs, Dilara Akter and Juairiya Ferdous opened the innings while Kranti Gaud opened the bowling attack.

Shree Charani bagged the first wicket, dismissing Ferdous for 14 runs. With Dilara Akter and Sobhana Mostary at the crease, Bangladesh women went on to score 26 runs in the powerplay.

Deepti Sharma bagged the wickets of Dilara Akter and Sobhana Mostary for 21 and 18 runs, respectively.

𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚 𝐂𝐮𝐩 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥

𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚: 𝟏𝟒𝟗/𝟔 (𝟐𝟎)
Shafali Verma – 64 (40)
Harmanpreet Kaur – 24* (28)
Sultana Khatun – 2/30 (3)

𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐡: 𝟏𝟎𝟗/𝟕 (𝟐𝟎)
Shorna Akter – 22* (18)
Deepti Sharma – 3/26 (4)… pic.twitter.com/pb5zqH9Tzr

— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 10, 2026

Nigar Sultana, who came to bat at No. 4, scored 19 runs before Prema Rawat sent her back to the dugout, and Bangladesh lost 4 wickets for 76 runs.

Sharmin Akter, Fahima Khatun and Rabeya Khan got dismissed cheaply while Shorna Akter added 22* runs as the side scored 109 runs in their 20-over innings.

Deepti Sharma bagged three wickets while Nandani Sharma bagged two wickets. Shafali Verma was named player of the match.

Speaking at the post-match presentation, Verma said, “Yeah, there’s lots of humidity out there and even in the middle also; sometimes I can’t even breathe, so I just try to inhale, exhale more and just at the start, I didn’t get those balls, but I’m just trying to play, and there’s a bit of a chance with the crease. I’m just trying to build my innings, so just this thing happened.”

The post Shafali Verma Leads the Charge as India Book Sixth T20 Asia Cup Final Spot appeared first on Times of Sports.

Sunil Gavaskar highlights the need to reassess India's congested cricket calendar, warning that relentless competition and travel may lead to player fatigue. He underscores the importance of nurturing domestic cricket as the foundation for the national team, advocating for improvements in this area to ensure sustained success in the future. This commentary aligns with the ICC's forthcoming discussions on scheduling.

East Zone translated their complete dominance over the last 12 sessions into a Duleep Trophy victory after 13 years, overwhelming South Zone on the basis of a massive first innings lead on the fifth and final day of the final here on Thursday. East Zone sauntered to 388 for seven in their second innings, swelling the overall lead to 760 runs even as the match ended in a draw.

Mohammad Kounian Quraishi joined the list of century-makers in this match with an unbeaten 116, his maiden three-figure mark in two-match-old first-class career. Quraishi, who added 150 runs with Anukul Roy (64) for the seventh wicket stand, reached the milestone in 179 balls with a brace off left-arm pacer CV Milind. But way before the teams shook hands at 2.10 pm signalling a draw, East had wrested the trophy after posting a mammoth 708 runs in their first innings, which helped them construct a 372-run lead. East's second innings was a mere continuation of their show of power in the match.

Starting the day from 212 for five, the Ishan Kishan-led side, as it happened in the first innings, was seldom troubled by direction-less South bowlers. Seasoned Mohammed Siraj bounded in for a while, showing intensity and pace. While it was satisfactory from a personal point of view, the effort remained futile otherwise. The lack of support for Siraj and a toothless batting effort also reflected the flawed selection as far as South squad is concerned. The South management chose to ignore in-form and proven players such as Karun Nair, Mayank Agarwal and Sai Kishore and the replacements never really could step up. But plenty of East Zone players did that.

Skipper Kishan made a stunning 270 in the first innings to underline his red-ball readiness while veteran Mohammed Shami, who was playing in his 100th first-class match, put to shame some younger names with a spirited effort. Kumar Kushagra scored his sixth first-class hundred while his Jharkhand team-mate Shikhar Mohan made a fifty filled with class and poise. Above all, Kishan also showed impressive tactical awareness while leading East. Once the team put on board a massive total, Kishan was clear in his primary objective -- take 10 South wickets and get a first innings lead. The 28-year-old detailed his plan.

"I think when you are the captain of the team, the first thing is situational awareness. We batted for roughly two days, right? Now, as a unit, we know this is essentially a first-innings shootout. "So, our primary task was to take those first 10 wickets and gain that lead. If we have an innings lead (good enough to impose follow-on), why would I want to step back out in the blazing heat," Kishan said. His words reflected the direct conflict between the intention of stretching domestic knockout matches into five days to procure results and teams gunning only for a first innings lead to bag the title. But for him and East, now, it's time to celebrate a long-awaited success rather than dwelling into such technical matters.

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