RANCHI: Singhbhum Shers became the first Jharkhand Premier League (JPL) champion defeating Jamshedpur Jaanbaaaz by 27 runs at International Cricket Stadium here on Saturday.
Electing to bat, Singhbhum suffered an initial setback when opener Sujit Kumar Yadav was caught by Manoj Kumar Singh off Y Krishanatry on the first ball of the innings. A sensible knock of 79 runs by Ramez Nemat off 59 balls with the help of eight boundaries and two sixes gave Singhbhum a defendable score.
At the end of the innings, Singhbhum boys were able to score 168 runs for four in 20 overs.
Chasing the target, Jamshedpur boys were on a sticky wicket from the beginning of their innings. Wickets continued to tumble at regular intervals and they could not return to the game against Singhbhum's attacking spell and were bundled for 141 runs in 19.3 over.
Ajit Diwedi became the highest scorer for Jamshedpur with 41 runs off 32 balls with the help of a couple of boundaries and a six.
Sujit Kumar Yadav and Sahbaaz Nadeen were most the successful bowlers for Singhbhum. Both of them claimed three wickets each by conceding 32 and 20 runs respectively.
JPL in Media
Singhbhum Shers become JPL champion
21 Mar, 2011 2314hrs IST 
Shers win, JPL has the last roar
Ranchi, March 21: Tigers have claimed their turf, the rest can lick their wounds and prepare for next year’s Jharkhand Premier League (JPL).
It’s official now. Though Singhbhum Shers won the first edition of JPL, the real winner is Jharkhand’s T20 tourney.
“Though the JSCA international cricket stadium was not overflowing, the quality of cricket created a stir. Matches were beamed live across India and the Middle East,” said JPL convener Sunil Kumar Singh.
Nishant Dayal, director of Elite Sports Management and JPL co-hosts, chipped in: “I received queries from noted Indian cricketers, who saw matches on Ten Cricket, about some of our youngsters.”
Not surprising. Sample this. In the March 19 final, the highlight of the Shers’ winning innings (168 runs for 4 wickets) was opener Rameez Nemat’s 79 runs off 59 balls, with 2 sixes and 8 fours. Nemat showed one could keep the scoreboard ticking while playing genuine cricket shots. Shers skipper Shahbaz Nadeem took 3 wickets for 20 runs. Jaanbaaz boys folded up by the 19th over at 141.
The Shers won the trophy and a cash award of Rs 3 lakh, forcing Jaanbaaz to be content with a Rs 1 lakh booty.
Though the cash may seem modest, what is heartening is that franchisees appear keen about the tourney and players. “One of the franchisees, whose team incidentally didn’t feature in the finals, asked me if he could retain his team for the next JPL. It is a good sign,” said Singh.
Jharkhand’s young troika — Saurabh Tiwary, Ishank Jaggi and Varun Aaron — now eyeing the IPL biggie, have also thanked JPL for some great cricket. Au revoir, JPL.
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