CCL 2025: Day 2 - Match 3 Bengal Tigers record second straight victory; make quick work of Punjab De Sher

The defending champions of CCL, the Bengal Tigers are off to a great start in their title defense with a second straight victory. This time it was Punjab De Sher that got a taste of Jammy's mighty bat. Although it seemed that the Punjab team would fight tooth-and-nail and not let the Bengal Tigers have it easy, after a great first innings, they could not sustain the same tempo in the second, allowing Jisshu Sengupta and co to win with 8 wickets to spare. 

A good start for Punjab De Sher

In less than 24 hours after playing and winning their first group stage match against the Chennai Rhinos in Bengaluru, defending champions Bengal Tigers were in Delhi and taking on Punjab De Sher. Leading the Punjab team in Sonu Sood’s absence, singer-actor Harrdy Sandhu won the toss and elected to bat first, but they didn’t have the best of starts, losing opener Ninja and the next man in, Babbal, for ducks. Rahul and Mayur stemmed the wicket loss for a bit and put a few runs on the board, but it was then up to the captain to ensure that the scoreboard had a respectable figure, with a 40-run knock of only 17 balls. Punjab De Sher managed to get to 111 for 5 eventually, which, at one point, did not seem possible.

Also read: CCL 2025: Match 1 Bengal Tigers trounce Chennai Rhinos in season opener match 

The Bengal Tigers sent big hitter Jammy to open along with Uday, and he knew the drill – chip away at the target steadily. Uday left after adding only 7 to the scoreboard, which brought skipper Jisshu to the middle. Jammy remained firmly in the driver’s seat, knocking the ball around the ground, but was bowled in the last over, when he was on 65 of only 38 balls. Rahul, who came in to replace Jammy, faced 2 balls and dispatched both for maximum, taking the Bengal Tigers tantalizingly close to the target they were chasing. 110 for 2 was the final score, giving Harrdy Sandhu and co a lead of only 1 run. The match, at this point, was evenly poised, and anyone’s game.

Harrdy Sandhu gets no support from his team

Back for their second innings, Punjab De Sher lost 3 wickets in the first 3 overs, but the scorecard would have looked a lot worse if the Bengal Tigers had held on to very important catches that were dropped. Harrdy Sandhu, of course, valiantly tried to give his team a fighting chance, but he was woefully let down by the rest of the team with no one other than Dakssh getting to double figures. 82 runs is all the team could muster, 42 of which came from Sandhu. That meant that the Tigers needed 83 for the win, which, with the kind of batting line-up they have, is a cakewalk.

Rahul and Joy opened and seemed intent on making quick work of the target. In only 9 balls, Rahul got to 22, but then, he edged one to the wicketkeeper and had to head back to the dug-out. After Joy left, it was up to Jammy and Yusuf to stay put and get their team to the finish line quickly, which they did with a little over 2 overs remaining and 8 wickets in hand. The Bengal Tigers got to 84-2, and are currently at the top of the points table, as the only team to have played 2 matches. They have 4 points, followed by Karnataka Bulldozers with 2 from their win over the Telugu Warriors.

Also read: CCL 2025: Match 2 Karnataka Bulldozers register stupendous victory against the Telugu Warriors 

Up next is the match between the Mumbai Heroes and the Bhojpuri Dabanggs. All the matches are being broadcast on Sony Sports Ten 3 and live-streamed on Disney+ Hotstar.