Bishnoi puts city in command

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 12

An unbeaten century by Raman Bishnoi helped Chandigarh reach 339/9 after the hosts were struggling at 112/5 against Amritsar on the opening day of their Punjab Inter-District U-23 Cricket Championship at the Sector 16 Stadium here on Tuesday.

Put in to bat, the hosts made a steady start with Jasnoor Singh and Shivam Bhambri adding 46 runs for the first wicket. The duo was separated when Sumit Sharma got rid of Bhambri for 24 runs.

Winning the toss, Amritsar skipper took the call to bowl first. His decision backfired, as Bishnoi scored unbeaten 159 off 253 balls, with 17 boundaries and four sixes.  

Arjit Singh made a brisk 14-ball 21 before he fell to Rohit Kumar.

The side then lost Jasnoor (13), Pardeep Yadav (0) and Jagdeep Singh (14) in quick succession to slump to 112/5. Bishnoi then took the centre stage and together with Arpit Singh put the innings back on track with an 87-run partnership for the sixth wicket.     

While Arpit was run out on 24, Bishnoi held the other end up, and in company of Nipun Pandita, pushed the score close 300-run mark.  

The two added 69 runs for the eighth wicket before Pandita was caught by Abhishek Sharma on 33. Bishnoi then raised another 37-run stand with Arshdeep to close the day at 339/9.   Bishnoi was batting on 159, while Arshdeep returned unbeaten on 27.

Rohit Kumar was the most successful bowler for the visitors, claiming 5/87.

Patiala, Jalandhar tie hangs in balance

At Dhruv Pandove Stadium in Patiala, the hosts were struggling on 119/6 after bowling out Jalandhar for 149 runs in their first innings.  At the draw of stumps, Ekjot Singh Thind was batting on 15 and giving him company at the other end was Akul Pratap Pandove on 11.

Earlier, Gurvinder Singh Bhuller and Ekjot Singh Thind shared seven wickets between them to restrict Jalandhar to a below-par total. While Bhuller returned with figures of 4/32, Thind claimed 3/60. Mayank Markande (1/8), Sukhwinder Singh (1/9) and Akul Pratap Pandove (1/30) picked a wicket apiece.For Jalandhar, Panini Arora scored 24 runs, while Himanshu Sharma and Prerit Dutta made 23 each.

Vaibhav’s century propels Gurdaspur to 235

Vaibhav Saini scored a defiant 125 to help Gurdaspur score 235 runs in their first innings against hosts Ludhiana at the PAU grounds.     Batting first, Gurdaspur were in disarray at 135/5, but Saini kept his poise and added 79 runs for the seventh wicket with Rajat to take the total past the 200-run mark.     

The partnership was broken when Gurjot claimed Rajat for 35 runs. Gurdaspur lost their remaining wickets for 21 runs to fold up on 235 runs. Saini remained unbeaten on 125.  For the hosts, Dipin Chitkara claimed 4/88, while Kashish took 3/48.

Ludhiana, in reply, were going strong at 136/1 when the play ended on Day 1.  Nehal Wadhera was batting on 67 and Kashish returned unbeaten on 28. Jaish Jain (35) was the only wicket to fall in the Ludhiana innings.

Mohali in sight of victory

In another match, Mohali bundled out Ferozepur for 99 runs before  declaring their innings closed at 304/6 at Government College, Rupnagar. Lagging Mohali by 205 runs, Ferozepur were battling at 52/8 when the umpires decided to call the day. Harpreet Brar, who picked six wickets in Ferozepur’s first innings, claimed five wickets in the second innings. Jasinder Singh had a match haul of 7/58.

Earlier, Mohali smashed 304 runs in 47 overs with Taranpreet hitting 84-ball 74 and Harpreet Brar smashing 93 runs off just 58 balls.