Bhadrak, Odisha, Mar 8 : The Lightning Legends have become the first team to qualify for the semifinals of the Tillo Cup 2026. They prevailed over Nexage Hyderabad by seven runs on Sunday, March 8 at the Hanuman Jew Stadium in Tillo, Bhadrak.

Batting first, the Legends were off to a fine start with the opening duo of Raman Bishnoi and skipper Abhishek Babber. However, Babber's (11) dismissal opened the floodgates for Hyderabad.
Bishnoi (27) played a good hand before being dismissed in the 11th over, as Legends were stuttering at 48/5. However, Ankit Narwal produced a sensational knock to dominate the opposition bowlers. He smashed 94 off 41 balls, with nine sixes and six fours to propel the Legends to a challenging total of 162. Vivek Singh was the pick of the bowlers for Hyderabad with two wickets.
In response, Hyderabad lost Rahul Rajpal (15) early, but Nishant Yadav maintained his sublime form, finding odd boundaries. Although they were cruising well, double blows in the 11th over put the side under pressure.
Yadav made his way back after playing an impressive knock of 43 off 41 balls, with five fours and a six. Mohammad Sharim remained unbeaten on 31 off 10, with five sixes, but his valiant knock could only push Hyderabad's score to 155, as they lost by seven runs. Narwal bowled the first maiden over of the tournament during his impressive figures of 2/25.
The second game on Sunday witnessed JP Sports Noida locking horns against A&S Kolkata. Opting to bat first, Noida lost two wickets until the second over. Rajkumar Yadav (27) and Pravin Yadav (20) came to the team's rescue with a 37-run stand.
Former IPL player and captain Kamran Khan played a terrific knock by slamming 84* off 43 balls, with eight sixes and four fours. The support from Rahul Kumar Yadav (30) resulted in Noida posting a colossal 188-run total.
Chasing down the big score, Kolkata were already under pressure, as they lost four wickets inside the powerplay. However, Dipanshu Upadhyay employed an aggressive intent to free off the team's pressure by scoring 43 off 19, with five sixes and a four. Meanwhile, Suvankar Bal continued his form by hitting 57 off 29.
Thereafter, Rishikesh Tiwari (23) and Abhisek Jadav (20) contributed well to take Kolkata over the line with 11 balls to spare.
The tournament is live on the FanCode app and website.