SUNRISE/FL – USA: Punjab Blues won their first match of the US Open T20 tournament when they got the better of SAMP Army in their clash at the Central Broward Regional Park in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday.
A total of 17 wickets fell in the match for a combined 147 runs as bowlers held sway. None better than Tirth Patel who claimed four wickets for three runs to cripple the SAMP Army batting, as they fell for just 73 runs. Mujtaba was the only batsman who offered resistance getting 22 off 22 balls.
Chasing 74 for victory, Punjab made a meal of the target and got home for the loss of seven wickets with four overs and four balls to spare.
They lost wickets early but a valuable 15 from Jay Singh kept them in the game and some small but significant contributions from the middle and lower order took them over the line. Bowling for SAMP Army Gaurav Khanna 3/20 and Sanjay Stanley 2/8 played well but they never had enough runs to defend. With the win, Punjab now has a win and a loss, while SAMP Army has lost both their games.
SCORES: SAMP Army 73 all out (18.3) (Mujtaba Tariq 22no, Tirth Patel 4/3, Rranaq Sharma 2/19, Aziz Fazsley 2/18) vs Punjab Blues 74/7 (15.2) (Jay Singh 15, Gaurav Khanna 3/20, Sanjay Stanley 2/8) – Punjab Blues won by 3 wkts.
