SAS Nagar (Mohali), September 3: Jalandhar Warriors edged past Bathinda Royals by three runs in a thrilling last-ball finish in the Mankind Pharma Sher-e-Punjab T20 League 2026 Powered by Punjab Kings at the I.S. Bindra Stadium, Mohali.
Jalandhar Warriors posted 205 in 19.3 overs, with captain and wicketkeeper-batter Prabhsimran Singh once again leading the way with the bat. Prabhsimran smashed his second consecutive century in the tournament, putting his team in a strong position.
The Warriors did not get off to the best of starts and were reduced to 62/3. Prabhsimran then joined hands with Aryan Yadav to rebuild the innings. The two batters took the attack to the Bathinda bowlers and added 118 runs for the fourth wicket, giving Jalandhar much-needed momentum.
Aryan played an aggressive knock of 39 off just 19 balls before being dismissed. Prabhsimran continued to dominate from the other end and brought up another brilliant century. However, he struggled to find enough support towards the end as Jalandhar kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
For Bathinda, Ashwani Kumar was the standout bowler. He not only helped restrict Jalandhar from reaching an even bigger total but also created history by taking the first hattrick of the tournament.
Ashwani dismissed Sukhdeep Bajwa off the final ball of the 17th over before removing Prabhsimran Singh and Randeep Singh with the first two deliveries of the 19th over. He finished with excellent figures of 4/35 from his four overs.
Chasing 206, Bathinda Royals made a steady start as openers Rishabh Gupta and Harnoor Singh added 48 runs for the first wicket. Gurvinder Bhullar gave Jalandhar the first breakthrough by dismissing Rishabh for 17 off 17 balls.
Harnoor then continued to keep the chase on track before he was dismissed for a well-made 44 off 29 balls. Captain Uday Saharan took charge from there and played a brilliant innings, bringing up his half-century and keeping Bathinda in the hunt.
Saharan found good support from Shahbaz Sandhu, who played an attacking knock and kept the scoreboard moving. The pair put the Jalandhar bowlers under pressure, although the required run rate continued to rise.
Jalandhar bowled an excellent penultimate over to bring the equation down to 18 runs from the final six balls. The Warriors were then put under further pressure when Sandhu was cleaned up by Randeep Singh off the very first ball of the last over. Sandhu scored 26 off 13 balls.
However, Saharan refused to give up. He smashed a six and a four off consecutive deliveries to bring the equation down to just six runs from the final two balls.
Randeep then produced the crucial moment, trapping Saharan in front of the stumps off the penultimate delivery for 86 off 43. With Bathinda needing six runs from the final ball, the pressure was firmly on the Royals.
Randeep bowled a wide, leaving Bathinda with one legal delivery to score five runs. Ashwini managed only two runs off the final ball, allowing Jalandhar Warriors to hold their nerves and seal a dramatic three-run victory.
