16th September, 2020, Raipur.
Pragati Pride, Gudhiyari 136/7 in 14 overs (Yogesh Thakur 50, Animesh 44, Prashant Sinha 2/17) beat Pharma Legends, Raipur 100/7 in 14 overs (Azhar Sheikh 21, Yashwant 2/5, Yogesh Thakur 2/14) by 36 runs.
The final of the Amarbeer League of Legends came to conclusion and Pragati Pride are the champions of the first season. Throughout the match, Pragati Pride had the upper side over Pharma Legends, the latter never really looked comfortable in the whole game.
Chasing 137 runs in 14 overs, Pharma Legends had to start on a positive note. They had to maintain the run-rate right from the outset. Now, it was the openers who had to make the right setup for the upcoming chase. On the contrary, Pragati Pride needed wickets at the beginning, and they didn't disappoint. Pragati Pride's bowlers came out all guns blazing at the Pharma Legends' batting unit. Pharma Legends never look settled, they kept losing wickets, courtesy some brilliant discipline bowling from the Pragati Pride bowlers. The trio of Yashwant, Thakur and Sahu was on role on the day of final, they took two wickets each to dislodge the batting setup of the chasing side. Sheikh was the top-scorer with 21 runs, Amjad Baig also smashed three maximums in his three-ball innings.
After losing the toss, Pragati Pride were invited to bat first. Yogesh Thakur and Giri Naidu came out in the centre to open the innings. Thakur gave them perfect start, he went on to score 50 runs off just 32 deliveries. He had good partnerships of 41 and 52 runs with Naidu and Animesh respectively. As Naidu went early after contributing just 7 runs for his team, Animesh took the onus of scoring quickly, his innings of 44 off 24 balls spiked the run-rate. He hit couple of boundaries to go with as many as five maximums in his 24-ball innings. It was only Thakur and Animesh whose innings took Pragati Pride's total to a winning total of 136 runs. Talking about the bowling, both Prashant Sinha and Suraj Manikpuri took two wickets to their name. Amjad Baig also bagged a wicket by sending Sandeep Sao back into pavillion.
Both Pragati Pride and Pharma Legends' journey to this final has been full of ups and downs but they reached final and showed what this game of cricket can deliver for you. So, the season 1 of Amarbeer League of Legends goes to all-deserving Pragati Pride. With this, we hope, upcoming seasons bring more joy and delight, till then, stay safe, goodbye!
