Arshdeep concedes 51 runs, Gill top-scores with 40 as Falcons beat Lions by 1 run

India’s limited-overs specialist bowler Arshdeep Singh went for 51 runs in his second T20 match since the England tour. Leading Ludhiana Lions, his side managed to restrict Fazilka Falcons for 170/9 after dismissing Shubman Gill for a 21-ball 40. While most of the matches in the ongoing Sher-e-Punjab T20 League 2026 have been high-scoring, Ludhiana Lions faltered in the run chase. Despite Madhav Singh Pathania's unbeaten 37, they lost the final ball thriller by just one run.

Chadha shines with 4-fer, cuts short Gill special

Earlier, Arshdeep had won the toss and opted to bowl first. Vihaan Malhotra was dismissed cheaply. Gill started well but Anshul Choudhary and skipper Sanvir Singh departed early. Gill used the fielding restrictions well and scored 40 runs before leg-spinner Kartik Chadha got the better of him. Eish Rao playing too many dot balls forced a rash shot from Gill. Then, Chadha wreaked havoc. He got Pranshu Pratap and Aarush Latta out in the 12th over. Rao accelerated but became Chadha's fourth victim for a run-a-ball 25. Chadha conceded just nine runs and bagged four wickets.

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Arshdeep errs, Falcons’ lower order helps post fighting total

Arshdeep came back into the attack but went for plenty of runs. Prerit Dutta and Jaiveer Bhinder helped Falcons recover from 112/7. In the penultimate over, Arshdeep started with a front foot no ball. He ended up going for 18 runs in the over. He remained wicketless and conceded 51 runs from his quota of four overs. In the last over, Dutta hit a six before getting out to Sahil Bashkar. He scored 36 runs from 23 balls. Bhinder contributed with an 18-ball 21 to help Falcons post 170/9.

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Lions kept quiet after powerplay overs

In the run chase, Abhijeet Garg was dismissed for a 10-ball 17 by Garv Kumar. In the next over, Salil Arora was dismissed for a single-digit score by Jasan Jindal. Malhora ended the powerplay overs with Yuvi Goyal's wicket. Lions were 50/3 after powerplay overs. Runs slowed down and Karteek Sharma lost his wicket to Dutta in the 10th over for a 29-ball 32. Lions were 77/4 at the halfway stage. 

Pathania, Bhagat’s cameos not enough

In the next over, Raghu Sharma knocked over Bikramjeet Singh. Arjun Rajput's fightback was ended by Malhotra. He scored 27 runs from 19 balls. Arshdeep walked out to bat at no.8 and scored eight runs from nine balls. He became Dutta's second victim of the evening. Pathania and Bhagat revived the run chase in slog overs. In the final over, they needed 19 runs to win. Bhagat scored three runs off the first two balls. Pathania hit two fours. On the last ball, six runs were needed to win. Pathania could manage a boundary as Lions fell short of the target by two runs. Pathania and Bhagat contributed with cameos of 16-ball 37 and 23-ball 28 which went in vain.