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Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 21
Sunpreet Bagga’s unbeaten ton went in vain as hosts Punjab took a vital 50-run first innings lead over Gujarat to earn three points on the third and final day of their U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy match at Dhruv Pandove Stadium in Patiala on Wednesday.
Chasing Punjab’s first innings total of 323 runs, Gujarat lost wickets at regular intervals to fold up on 272 after they resumed the day on 189/4.
Smit Patel was the first one to go this morning. He was cleaned up by Sumit Sharma after adding just one run to his overnight tally of 31.
Sharma struck again, this time removing Suraj Suryal for naught.
Jaymeet Patel (2), SM Prajapati (3) and Akash (1) fell in quick succession as Gujarat slumped to 233/9.
Bagga though held one end up and added vital 39 runs for the 10th wicket along with P Hitanshu to take the total to 272. The partnership was broken when Hitanshu was run out by Amit Shukla. The tail-ender faced 30 balls for his one run before walking back to the pavilion.
Bagga, meanwhile, remained unbeaten on 147. His 369-ball innings was studded with 20 boundaries a six.
Sumit Sharma was the pick of the bowlers for the hosts, claiming 4/33, while Deepin Chitkara returned with figures of 3/48. Amit Shukla (1/57) and Deepanshu Chadha (1/52) took a wicket each.
Punjab had a disastrous start to their second innings as they lost both their openers for seven runs. Ishan Goyal was caught by RD Patel of P Hitanshu on seven, while Arjun Azad was trapped in front by Hitanshu on zero.
Nehal Wadhera and skipper Prabhsimran Singh then stitched a 97-run partnership for the third wicket to put the hosts’ innings back on track. Prabhsimran fell to SM Prajapati on 58. Chitkara returned to the hut without opening his account as Punjab slipped to 107/4.
Wadhera and Salil Arora then batted sensibly and ensured Punjab do not lose any more wickets. Wadhera remained not out on 74, while Arora returned unbeaten on 19.
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