CHANDIGARH, April 4: Defending champions Fighter XI became the first team to qualify for the Super League stage of the UT League-cum-knockout cricket tournament after their third successive win in their pool. They beat Punwire XI by 170 runs in a league match at PEC today.
After halfcenturies by Bhupinder Sandhu (66), Preet Mohan Singh (56) and Vikrant Gupta (52 n.o.) helped Fighter XI amass 240 for 5 in 25 overs, their bowlers, Hitesh Sharma (5 for 20) and Sanjay Dhull (4 for 18) combined well to bowl out Punwire for a meagre total of 70.
Brief Scores
Fighter: 240 for 5 (Bhupinder Sandhu 66, Preet Mohan Singh 56, Vikrant Gupta 52 n.o.) beat Punwire: 70 (Hitesh Sharma 5 for 50, Sanjay Dhull 4 for 18).
Youth: 167 for 8 (Vijay Rattan 52, Rajesh Vaid 29, Vicky 3 for 25, Ramesh Mehra 2 for 26); KL Foundation: 118 in 23.1 overs (Ramesh Mehra 37, Sunny 36, Kapil 20, Vijay 3 for 9, Chander Rana 3 for 26).
Canara Bank: 74 in 19.5 overs (Ram Pal 27, Atul 16, Rahul Panta 3 for 19, Ajay Sikka 2 for 10, Vivek Jain 2 for 7); CNS XI: 76 for 1 in 8 overs (Rahul Panta 39 n.o., Vinesh Sharda 23 n.o.). Panthar: 136 in 24.5 overs (Sanjay Rana 28, Bobby Rai 24, Azad Singh 19, Shekhar 3 for 25, Parshant 2 for 24).
Shine Star: 108 in 21.4 overs (Prashant 37, Sanjeev 12, Kamal 3 for 11, Bharat 3 for 22, Sanjay 2 for 19).