Punjab in driver’s seat

Chandigarh, January 17 

Mansab Gill and Sanvir Singh stitched an unbeaten 158-run opening wicket partnership to put Punjab in command after the bowlers struck in unison to bundle out visitors Uttarakhand on 160 runs on the opening day of their Col CK Nayudu Trophy quarterfinal match at Dhruv Pandove Stadium in Patiala on Thursday. At the draw of stumps, Gill was batting on 86, while Sanvir was not out on 72.   

Earlier, Uttarakhand had a disastrous beginning as Ikjot Singh Thind removed Sagar (1), skipper Ajit Singh Rawat (2) and Saurav Chauhan (4) in quick succession to leave the visitors reeling at 10/3 after they had opted to bat. 

Opener Himanshu Bisht and Piyush Joshi stretched the total past the 50-run mark before Harpreet Brar struck for the hosts in the 16th over. Bisht was dismissed after scoring a 39-ball 20.  

Eight runs later, Brar removed Dinesh Pawar (3) to spell further trouble for Uttarakhand. Joshi did not last long either and fell to off-spinner Akul Pandove on 30. 

Wicketkeeper-batsman Vijay Sharma, though, showed some positive intent and together with Sunil Singh Bisht added 71 runs for the seventh wicket. The duo was separated when Sharma eventually fell to Arshdeep Singh on 60.

Uttarakhand lost their remaining three wickets for 15 runs to finally fold up on 160. Bisht made 19 runs, while Agrim Tiwari remained unbeaten on 10.  

For the hosts, Arshdeep Singh (3/30) and Thind (3/24) shared six wickets between them, while Pandove (2/30) and Brar (2/340 bagged two wickets each.  — TNS