Kaul, Mandeep put Punjab on top

Kanpur, November 25

Contrasting fifties by Uday Kaul and Mandeep Singh helped Punjab end Day 3 on 244/6 and gain big second-innings lead against Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy match here today.

After bundling out UP for 226 in response to their first innings score of 272, Punjab continued to dictate terms and stretched the lead to 290. The visitors lost a couple of early wickets, but the 124-run third-wicket partnership between Kaul (89 not out) and Mandeep (84) helped Punjab tighten their grip. While Kaul played a patient hand, Mandeep was quite devastating during his 101-ball knock. Though Mandeep’s wicket triggered a mini-collapse, it wouldn’t bother Punjab much as they have already built up a big lead. — PTI

Ranji Trophy 

Brief scores: Goa: 552/5 decl; J&K 1st innings: 325/5 (Ian Dev Singh 115, M Manhas 95no, P Gupta 56).

Punjab:  272 and 244/6 (U Kaul 89no, Mandeep Singh 84; Praveen Kumar 2/59, A Rajpoot 2/52); UP 226 all out (Umang Sharma 49; S Kaul 4/82).

Haryana: 112 and 287/6 (Nitin Saini 146, Mohit Hooda 56; Pankaj Singh 3/73); Rajasthan 279.