City boys hold edge over Ludhiana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 12

Raman Bishnoi and Arpit Pannu shared eight wickets between them as Chandigarh bowled out hosts Ludhiana for a modest 255 in their first innings on the opening day of their Katoch Shield match on Wednesday.   

Opting to bat, the hosts were rocked early as opener Sunny Pandey (0) was sent packing by Jagjit Singh in the first over of the match. 

Gurjot Singh and Kashish Pasneja batted sensibly and took the Ludhiana total to 75 runs before Pannu struck for the visitors. The off-spinner castled Pasneja on 25 to bring an end to the 75-run stand between the two.

A couple of balls later, Pannu removed Deepin Chitkara, who had walked in at the fall of Pasneja’s wicket, to reduce Ludhiana to 75/3. Gurjot though held the other end up and together with Geetansh Khera added a useful 79 for the fourth wicket before succumbing to Bishnoi on 99. His 180-ball stay in the middle was studded with 14 boundaries and a six.

Khera did not last long and was caught by Gaurav off Bhagminder for 25. 

Sukhjinder Singh and Krishan Kumar added 37 runs for the seventh wicket before Bishnoi struck again for the visitors. Kumar returned to the hut after facing 39 balls for his 10 runs.  

Sukhjinder Singh (52) fell after completing his half-century, while skipper Baltej Singh smashed three sixes in his small cameo of 29 runs as Ludhiana eventually folded up their innings on 255. 

Pannu claimed 4/60, while Bishnoi got 4/45. Bhagminder (1/65) and Jagjit Singh (1/42) took a wicket each for the visitors. 

Mohali in command 

At IS Bindra PCA Stadium in Mohali, Harpreet Brar claimed a six-for as the hosts bundled out Nawanshar for 195 runs in their first innings.  

At the end of the day’s play, Mohali were going strong at 214 runs with Taranpreet Singh unbeaten on 52 and Gurkirat Mann batting on 40.

Earlier, electing to bat, Nawanshahr batsmen failed to counter Brar’s guile as the left-arm spinner returned with figures of 6/44. 

Jatin Kumar and Karanjit Singh offered some resistance to the Mohali attack but could not take the Nawanshahr total past the 200-run mark. While Kumar faced 105 balls for his 38, Karanjit made 56 off 100 balls. The duo also added 73 runs for the fifth wicket. Abhishek added 21 runs to the Nawanshahr total. 

Jalandhar score 463

Meanwhile, Jalandhar scored a mammoth 463 against hosts Amritsar on the opening day at the Gandhi Grounds. 

Opener Parth Aggarwal made a sedate 131, while Gaurav Chaudhary made a 52-ball 65 before he was dismissed by Abhinav Sharma. The duo also added 101 runs for the second wicket. 

Mandeep Singh and Himanshu Satyawan then scored contrasting half-centuries to pile the misery on Amritsar bowlers. While Mandeep was run out on 78, Satyawan hammered a 63-ball 79. 

Abhishek Sharma claimed 7/76 for the hosts.