Barpeta Braves may have walked away with the inaugural Assam Premier League (APL) championship, but runners-up Guwahati Royals dominated the tournament’s individual honours, sweeping most of them as the curtain came down on a successful first edition at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday night.Going down by five wickets in the final to Barpeta, the franchise from the state capital earned the Orange Cap, Purple Cap, Player of the Tournament and the Emerging Player of the Tournament awards following an impressive campaign. The only major individual honour to elude Guwahati was the Catch of the Tournament award, which went to Nagaon Rangers’ Altaf Alam.Young Rohit Sen was the standout batter of the maiden season, finishing with 543 runs from 12 innings at an average of 45.25. His explosive strokeplay throughout the meet helped him claim the Orange Cap as well as the Emerging Player award to complete a memorable personal double.Guwahati’s success was not restricted to their batting only as they consistently showed all-round prowess to make the summit clash alongside Barpeta. Their bowling spearhead Bastab Roy finished the tournament as the leading wicket-taker with 23 scalps from 12 innings to secure the Purple Cap while his all-round impact was further recognised with the Player of the Tournament award.While the Royals dominated the individual awards list, Barpeta Braves saved their best team effort for the biggest occasion as they held their nerve to beat Guwahati in Sunday’s summit clash to come out as the first APL champions.Chasing 166 for victory, Barpeta reached the target with seven balls to spare, with Arun Sonar’s unbeaten 34 off 20 balls proving to be decisive in the final overs. Earlier, Sen’s sensational 90 off 37 balls had powered Guwahati to 165 but ultimately it went in vain.Brief scores: Guwahati Royals 165 in 19.4 overs (Rohit Sen 90, Rishav Das 34; Pranjal Paul 2/18, Shubham Kumar Gupta 2/36, Dipjyoti Saikia 2/36). Barpeta Braves 166/5 in 18.5 overs (Arun Sonar 34*, Hrishikesh Das 35, Saurav Mousum Dihingia 33; Bastab Roy 1/25, Deepak Gohain 1/17). Barpeta Braves won by 5 wickets.Awards list: Orange Cap: Rohit Sen (543 runs); Purple Cap: Bastab Roy (23 wickets); Player of the Tournament: Bastab Roy; Emerging Player of the Tournament: Rohit Sen (all Guwahati Royals); Catch of the Tournament: Altaf Alam (Nagaon Rangers)
