Shaheed Lieutenant Thakur Dass Cricket Tournament begins: Govil unbeaten 59-run guides Singh Club to win opening tie

STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Magnificent unbeaten 59 runs by Govil Sharma guided Singh Cricket Club Akhnoor to overpower Friends Warriors Jourian by nine wickets in the opening match of the Shaheed Lieutenant Thakur Dass Memorial Cricket Tournament, organised by Akhnoor Sports Club and sponsored by Communication and Capacity Development Unit (CCDU) of Department of PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control at GHSS Ground, here on Monday.
Earlier batting first, Friends Warriors Jourian was bowled out for 121 runs in 17 overs. Bhanu Singh played a fine inning of 40 runs followed by Tushar Singh, who scored 23 runs while Randeep Singh and Vishal chipped in 15 and 16 runs respectively.
For Singh Club Akhnoor, Happy and Sham Singh Langeh grabbed three wickets each while Sunil Kumar picked two.
In reply, Singh Club Akhnoor comfortably chased the target and scored 122 runs for the loss of one wickets in 10.2 overs. Govil Sharma played some crispy shots and made unbeaten 59 runs while Manik Sharma also played well and scored unbeaten 30 runs. For Friends Club, Randeep Singh scalped a lone wicket of Shubham Khajuria, who added 18 runs to total.
For his match winning knock, Govil Sharma was declared Man of the Match.
Today’s match was officiated by the technical panel comprising Joginder Mangotra and Madan Lal as Umpires while Sushil Gupta and Raman Sharma acted as scorers.
Earlier, the tournament was inaugurated by the Chief Guest, Sham Lal Choudhary, Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control who urged upon the youth to vigorously participate in the sports activities.
MLA Khour Dr. Krishan Lal Bhagat, MLA Akhnoor Rajeev Sharma, Commissioner Secretary, Youth Services and Sports Hilal Parray, Chief Engineer, PHE Jammu, Executive Director, CCDU besides large numbers of sports lovers were present on the occasion.
Paying rich tribute to Shaheed Lieutenant Thakur Dass, the minister said that the Martyr Thakur Dass was the valiant son of the soil who attained martyrdom at Indo-Pak border. He asked the youth to learn from the soldiers who sacrifice their lives while safeguarding the territory of the country.
The minister said that the aim of organising the tournament was to promote the sports interest among youth and sensitise people about the importance of preservation of water resources and its judicious use.
He said that the work on sports stadium Akhnoor is nearing completion and would be dedicated to people with necessary sports paraphernalia for the convenience of players and budding sports personnel of the area. The government is also mulling to develop sports stadium at Pallanwala to promote sports activities in the area, he maintained.
Taking pledge to work for preservation and saving water resources, the minister sought people’s cooperation in this regard. He said that the mandate of the PHE Department is to provide potable water to the people of the State and it is possible when everyone will work wholeheartedly in this direction.
The 10-day cricket tournament will be played on knock-out basis. As many as eight teams including three from Jammu, three from Akhnoor and one each from Khour and Jourian areas are participating in the tourney and the final of the tournament will be played on the same venue.
Earlier, the minister along with other dignitaries was introduced with the players.