Chandigarh in control on Day 1

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 18

Skipper Bhagminder Lather and Raman Bishnoi scored a century each as Chandigarh scored 394/6 in their first innings against hosts Ludhiana on the opening day of their Punjab Inter-State U-23 Cricket Championship at the GRD Academy grounds on Tuesday. 

Electing to bat, Chandigarh were in trouble at 42/3 but a 204-run partnership between Lather and Bishnoi for the sixth wicket helped them close the day in a comfortable position. While Lather was out after scoring an impressive 153-ball 112, Bishnoi remained not out on 164.  

Earlier, the visitors slumped to 42/3 as they lost Jagmeet Singh (12), Arjun Azad (6) and Ayush Gautam (7) in quick succession. Ayush Sikka then in company of Bishnoi added 83 runs for the fourth wicket before he was caught by wicketkeeper Gurjot off Rahul Khanna on 32. Pardeep Yadav did not last long and fell to Gurmehar after scoring 24 runs off 53 balls. 

With half their side back in the pavilion at 180 runs, Bishnoi and Lather showed great composure and took the total to 384 runs before Gurmehar struck for the hosts in the 94th over of the day. 

At the end of the day’s play, Bishnoi was batting on 164 and giving him company at the other end was Arshdeep Singh on six.  

For the hosts, Khanna took 3/89, while Gurmehar Singh took 2/101. 

Patiala hold the edge 

At Dhruv Pandove Stadium in Patiala, the hosts closed the opening day’s play at 351/2 after being put in to bat by Ferozepur. 

At the end of the day’s play, Prabhsimran Singh was batting on 124 runs while skipper Akul Pandove held the other end with a patient 41. 

Earlier, Mandeep Inder Bawa and Jashanpreet Singh stitched 170-run opening wicket partnership to provide a solid platform to the Patiala innings. While Bawa fell to Karan Singh on 85, Jashanpreet returned to the pavilion after cracking a 95-ball 88.     

Kuwar propels Amritsar

Contrasting centuries by Kuwar Pathak and Abhishek Sagar helped Amritsar score 414 runs in their first innings after the hosts were reduced to 36/4 by Jalandhar at the Gandhi Grounds. 

Electing to bat, Amritsar lost skipper Abhishek Sharma on just 10 runs. He was stumped by wicketkeeper P Aggarwal off Gourav Chaudhary on two. Rahul Kashyap added just one run to the total before he was dismissed by Harit Sachhar. Chaudhary then dismissed opener Abhay Choudhary (12) and Abhinav Sharma in the 14th over to spell more trouble for the hosts.

Pathak and Sagar then got into the act and resurrected the Amritsar innings with a solid 265-run stand for the fifth wicket. The duo was separated when Sagar fell to Chaudhary on 103 runs. Seven runs later, the off-spinner struck again, removing Pathak on 175.

Wicketkeeper batsman Salil Arora (55) and Sumit Sharma (45) then made some useful contributions to push the Amritsar total to 414.

Chaudhary was the pick of the bowlers for Jalandhar, claiming 5/95. Prerit Dutta (2/122) and Keshav Sharma (2/92) took two wickets each.

The visitors, in reply, were batting on 22/0 when the play ended on the opening day. Mansab Gill was unbeaten on 10 and Arjun Verma remained not out on seven.