Chandigarh begin with a bang

Tribune News Service 
Chandigarh, December 9

Right-arm medium-pacer Shresth Nirmohi claimed a five-wicket haul before Arslan Khan and Shivam Bhambri hit contrasting centuries to put debutants Chandigarh in command against Arunachal Pradesh on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Plate Group match at the Sector 16 Stadium.

Opting to bowl first, Chandigarh's bowlers utilised the conditions to their advantage as medium-pacer Nirmohi sent back Techi Doria (0) and Samarth Seth (1) inside the first 10 overs to put the visitors on the back foot.  Nirmohi, 28, who belongs to Una, has earlier played six First-Class matches for Himachal Pradesh. He currently trains at the Sector 16 Stadium. Opener Neelam Obi and wicketkeeper-batsman Kamsha Yangfo offered some resistance to the Chandigarh attack, but seasoned left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma brought an end to their 33-run stand with an arm-ball that trapped Yangfo in front of the wickets.

Six runs later, Jaskaran Singh cleaned up Obi on 20 to spell more trouble for the visitors. Rahul Dalal lasted just 11 balls as Arunachal slumped to 59/5 in the 20th over.

With the visitors in dire straits, skipper Song Tacho and Techi Neri dug deep and pushed the total to 110 before Nirmohi returned to put an end to the 42-run stand between the two. Tacho was dismissed after facing 50 balls for his 20.

Kengo Bam was then run out without scoring, while Nirmohi trapped Yab Niya on zero to claim his fourth wicket of the day. However, Neri in the company of Kakir Taye used the long handle to good effect and took the total to 147 before Nirmohi claimed the former to wind up the Arunachal innings.

Neri made 45 off 75 balls, while Taye remained not out on 13. Chandigarh, in reply, came out all guns blazing as Arslan Khan and Bhambri put on 220 runs for the opening wicket. Bhambri claimed the honour of scoring the first-ever Ranji Trophy century for Chandigarh, with 105 off 91 balls, studded with 14 boundaries and two sixes.

The duo was separated when Bhambri was caught by Kakir Taye off Akhilesh Sahani.

Khan, in comparison to his opening partner, was a bit patient in his approach and closed the day on an unbeaten 119 off 131 balls. Skipper Manan Vohra returned not out on nine as Chandigarh ended the opening day on 236/1, 89 runs ahead of Arunachal Pradesh.

Legal notice to BCCI  

A faction led by former Union Territory Cricket Association (UTCA) president Pardeep Chabra, today served a legal notice on BCCI’s general manager (cricket operations), members of BCCI's affiliation committee and others. “The BCCI has clearly ignored the norms while allotting affiliation to UTCA. The former president was neither removed nor resigned from the post and still holds stakes in the association. The case pertaining to affiliation was filed during his tenure. There are many other loopholes against which we have filed in the notice,” said advocate Deipa Dubey.

Yograj makes an entry 

Yograj Singh, one of the pioneers of Chandigarh cricket, casually walked into the players arena and took a chair alongside the support staff. Coach VRV Singh walked up to him and bowed to symbolically touch his feet even as the others followed suit. This drew the attention of match officials, who conveyed the message to the match observer that an unauthorised person has entered the field. The match observer gently put in a word in Yograj’s ear, to which he waved his hand in a dismissive manner. A few moments later, Yograj got up from his chair and moved aside. The match officials finally heaved as sigh of relief when Yograj finally came out of the area and sat in the spectators’ gallery.

Teething problems  

The non-functional giant screen/scoreboard at the Sector 16 Stadium kept staring blankly at the match proceedings throughout the day. The spectators at the venue too were a hassled lot as keeping a tab on the score became quite a task. The manual scoreboard at the venue was kept for the convenience of the umpires and players inside the ground only.

Ranji trophy

Arunachal Pradesh 147 all out in 44. 2 overs (Techi Neri 45, Neelam Obi 20; Shresth Nirmohi 5/26, Jaskaran Singh 2/17) vs Chandigarh 236/1 in 38 overs (Arslan Khan 119*, Shivam Bhambri 105; Akhilesh Sahani 1/80)