CRICKET – THE Abraj Rocking Royals were yesterday crowned champions of the Abraj Premier League (APL5).
The Rocking Royals once again proved their dominance by winning the title after defeating the Abraj Super Giants in an exciting final.
This highly competitive tournament was sponsored by Mega Contracting, BFC, Desi Zaika, Weather Cool, and AAL.
The Super Giants won the toss and opted to bat first. Their innings began cautiously, reaching 44/1 by the end of the sixth over. However, a series of quick wickets halted their progress, and they found themselves struggling at 81/5 by the end of the 12th over.
Despite some late resistance, the Super Giants were bowled out for 128 runs in 20 overs. Tarun Parihar was the top scorer with 30 runs off 20 balls. Deepak Bhakuni (16 off 18 balls) and Anthony Panvalkar (15 off 15 balls) also made valuable contributions.
In the bowling department, Ratnesh Singh and Anoop Kumar claimed two wickets apiece, while Kamlesh Patel, Dilleeswar Cheri, Ashwani Pratap, and Anil Verma each took two wickets.
Chasing a target of 129 runs, the Rocking Royals faced a challenging start, finding themselves at 73/5 after 11 overs. However, their lower order showed resilience, and they managed to reach the target by the 18th over, winning the match by four wickets.
Anoop Kumar (25 off 21 balls), Ashwani Pratap (22 off 16 balls), and Sagar Dholaria (15 off 10 balls) were key contributors to the chase, while other important contributions came from Himanshu Bhatt (13 off 12 balls) and Singh (12 off 11 balls).
The Super Giants’ bowler Sanito Dsilva claimed three wickets, while Vali Shaik took two wickets, and Vivek Mandowara claimed one wicket.
Singh was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final for his all-round performance.
Meanwhile, the tournament’s top performers were named. Dholaria was selected as the MVP with 190 runs and 23 wickets. Parihar earned the Best Batter award with 377 runs throughout the competition.
Shaik, who claimed 19 wickets, was named the Best Bowler, while Panvalkar was selected as Best Fielder, with 27 dismissals in the tournament.
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