Punjab Lions walk away with trophy

Sports Correspondent

Ludhiana, November 28

In a keenly contested final, Punjab Lions defeated Silent Heroes by eight runs to lift the winners’ trophy in the Divyang Cricket League played at the Punjab Agricultural University grounds here today.

Opting to bat first, Punjab Lions scored 125 runs. Abhimanyu (31), Rakesh (18) and Parmod (17) were the main contributors with the bat, while for the Silent Heroes, Gurbax grabbed three wickets after conceding 29 runs and Sehaj took two wickets for 20 runs.

Punjab Lions defended the total as they restricted Silent Heroes’ innings to 117 runs. Gurbax contributed 20 runs and Pankaj chipped in with 15 runs for the Silent Heroes.

Abhimanyu was the main wicket taker for the winning side. He claimed four wickets, while Kunal and Darpan took two wickets each.

Rajinder Gupta, prominent industrialist and president, Punjab Cricket Association, was the chief guest during the prize distribution function. He appreciated Padam Passi, chief organiser, Deaf Cricket Federation, Punjab, for holding the competition for ‘special cricketers’. He also assured all possible help to the federation.

Jatinder Minhas from Canada and Dr Kashmir Singh from the Divyang Cricket Council of India were guests of honour on the occasion. Singh proposed to host national tournaments in various sports disciplines in Punjab in near future, while Minhas invited Divyang Cricket Team to Canada to play matches there and offered to bear the tour expenditure.

Expressing gratitude, Padam Passi said these players needed a platform to showcase their skill and talent. He thanked Poonam Kaur Sidhu, Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, for extending support for this cause.