Harnoor, Arora fifties and Ramndeep’s cameo helped Punjab bounced back from two defeats; Venkatesh Iyer’s fifty went in vain

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Punjab ended a two-match losing streak with a two-wicket win over Madhya Pradesh in the Super League of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at the DY Patil Academy ground in Pune. Half-centuries from Harnoor Singh and Salil Arora, followed by a late assault from Ramandeep Singh, who remained unbeaten on 35 from 21 balls, powered Punjab to a successful chase of 226 with five balls to spare.

They were jolted early by the loss of captain Prabhsimran Singh in the second over, but Anmolpreet Singh and Harnoor counter-attacked to set the tone. The pair raced to 50 in just 18 balls before Anmolpreet was dismissed by Mangesh Yadav for a 14-ball 38. Harnoor continued the onslaught, striking 64 off 36 balls with five fours and three sixes, and added 73 for the fourth wicket with Arora.

Punjab required 45 from the final five overs when Arora, who scored a fifty off 29 balls, fell in the 16th over. A mini-collapse followed as four wickets fell for 20 runs, but Ramandeep held his nerve to see Punjab home.

The chase marked the seventh instance of Punjab crossing the 200-run mark in the tournament this season – the most by any side. No other team has managed more than four 200-plus totals in a single edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, with Jharkhand also on four in 2025-26.

Earlier, Venkatesh Iyer top-scored for Madhya Pradesh with 70 off 43 balls. Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Aniket Verma and Mangesh chipped in with handy cameos to lift Madhya Pradesh to 225 for 8, but it ultimately proved insufficient. Fast bowler Gurnoor Brar was the standout bowler for Punjab, finishing with figures of 3 for 45.