Panchkula, June 26
Sonepat emerged victorious against hosts Panchkula by 14 runs in the last league match of the Haryana State Inter-District (under 19) League cum Knockout Championship played at JR Institute (Naggal), here, today.
Winning the toss, Panchkula put Sonepat District to bat. Openers Satinder Malik and Ritesh Sharma started cautiously building a 43-run partnership from the first 11 overs before Ritesh Sharma gave an easy catch at covers.
Next batsman Vijay kept the score board moving along with skipper Satinder Malik and took the scoreto 106 for 1. Satinder Malik scored a brilliant half-century from 67 balls consisting of four boundaries.
Vijay too contributed 45 runs but it was Naveen, taking charge after the departure of Satinder Malik, who rotated the strike at will.
Naveen and Vijay were involved in a 54-run partnership out of which Naveen got superb 55 runs to his credit.
The Sonepat innings concluded at 246 all out in 50 overs. Panchkula’s medium pacer Kapil Pandey restricted the visitors’ total as the bowler accounted for 4 wickets for 32 runs from 9 overs.
Ashutosh Walia and Sachin Gehrotra accounted for 2 wickets each. Chasing the total, Panchkula started confidently at 6 runs an over having 33 runs on the board after first six overs.
Introduction of right-arm leg spinner Varinder Dahia prove disastrous for the hosts as Amandeep fell to a short pitch delivery which also kept low.
Thereafter, none of the batsman could offer resistance and middle order collapsed leaving the score board reading 71 for 5 at the end of 21 overs.
At this stage, rain interrupted the match for almost 50 minutes and the target was rescheduled to 194 to win in 40 overs.
Kapil Pandey and Karan Malik made a valiant effort requiring 8 runs per over in the last 15 overs.
The last two overs required 24 runs to win with 4 wickets in hand. Return of Karan Malik, back to the pavilion, sealed the fate of the match in favour of Sonepat as none of the remaining batsmen could meet the challenge.
Kapil Pandey made valuable 45 runs whereas Karan Malik scored 34 but it was not enough as Sonepat district registered the win by 14 runs and garnered 4 points from this match.
Brief Score: Sonepat District 246 All out in 50 overs; Satinder Malik 53, Vijay 45, Naveen 55, Kapil Pandey 4 for 32, Ashutosh Walia 2 for 49, Sachin Gehrotra 2 for 47.
Brief Score: Panchkula; 179 all out in 39. 2 overs ( chasing rescheduled total to 193 in 40 overs); Varun Khanna 19, Mandeep Singla 15, Kapil Pandey 45, Karan Malik 34, Varinder Dahia 3 for 24, Anil Kashyap 2 for 34.
In another match, Kaithal district registered a nail-biting win by 1 wicket over Ambala with the help of some good bowling performances by Ayush 5 for 24 and Narinder 2 for 24.
Brief Score: first innings
Ambala: 76 all out in 33.2 overs.
Kaithal: 114 all out in 36.2 overs.
Second innings:
Ambala: 94 allout in 34.1 overs.
Harjot Singh 45, Ayush 5 for 24, Narinder 2 for 24.
Kaithal: 59 for 9 in 20.2 overs; Vikash 15, Harjot 4 for 25, Sparsh Jain 4 for 22.
