Sher-E-Punjab T20: Ludhiana Lions Seal Semis Spot With Five-wicket Win Over Amritsar Soormas

By Pramit Meher

**Ludhiana Lions Rob Semis, But a Note on Bowling Workload** Ludhiana Lions are into the semis of the SherEPunjab T20 after a comfortable 5-wicket win over Amritsar Soormas at I.S. Bindra Stadium, Mohali, Friday. Amritsar batted first and posted 176/9 in 20 overs. Early pressure via Sahaj Dhawan's cheap dismissal, but Jashanpreet Singh & Abhay Choudhary steadied things with a 32-run 2nd-wicket stand. Choudhary's aggressive 25 off 15 slipped away and Amritsar tumbled to 97/5. Rahul Kumar then took charge, sharing a 64-run 6th-wicket stand with Ishmeet Singh Sandhu, and finished 57 off 36 to steer them home. For Ludhiana, Kartik Chadha was pick of the bowlers with 2/31, keeping pressure throughout and shutting down the run rate in the final overs. The chase wasn't smooth—Lions lost two early wickets and sagged to 32/2. But Salil Arora & Karteek Sharma then produced a massive 120-run stand. Salil was on fire with 70 off 35 (6 sixes, 4 fours), and Karteek also made his fifty off 40 before being dismissed with just 9 needed off 19 balls. Lions sealed it in the 19th over. **Pro note:** Two batters firing 30-40 balls each in a T20, plus a full 4-over spell for Kartik—that's a heavy workload in one day. Worth watching for fatigue-related injuries in the knockouts, especially fast bowls running up the intensity. **Semis:** Ludhiana Lions vs Jalandhar Warriors (Semifinal 2), 7 PM today. Mohali Kings take on Amritsar Soormas in the other. *Source: IANS* Source: Cricketnmore