Punjab reduce Raj to 261/6 on Day 1

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 21 

Patient half-centuries by Karan Lamba and R Chaudhary helped hosts Rajasthan score 261/6 on the opening day of their Cooch Behar Trophy match against Punjab at KL Saini Stadium in Jaipur on Monday. 

Electing to bat, Rajasthan were in a spot of bother at 56/3 before Lamba stitched a useful 74-run partnership with A Agarwal to provide some stability to the hosts' innings. 

The duo batted over 27 overs before Ketan Mankotia brought an end to Agarwal's 29-run knock. Eighteen runs later, Lamba, who was batting with relative ease at the other end, fell to Amit Shukla on 64. His 100-ball stay in the middle was studded with nine boundaries and one six. 

S Kulsrshtha made a brisk 40 before he became Shukla's second victim of the day.

With the hosts struggling at 189/6, R Chaudhary and M Suthar batted sensibly and stitched an unbeaten 72-run partnership for the seventh wicket to help Rajasthan close the day on 261/6. 

Chaudhary remained unbeaten on 57, while Suthar was batting on 25 at the close of play.

Earlier, Sumit Sharma had removed openers D Gajraj (21) and HK Joshi (9), while Mankotia got rid of skipper SA Ahuja (9) to sound early warning bell for Rajasthan. 

For Punjab, Ketan Mankotia (2/44), Amit Shukla (2/48) and Sumit Sharma (2/83) claimed two wickets each. 

Brief Scores

Rajasthan 261/6 (Karan Lamba 64, R Chaudhary 57*;  Ketan Mankotia 2/44, Amit Shukla 2/48, Sumit Sharma 2/83) versus Punjab