Harbhajan strikes for Punjab, Raina disappoints UP

Kanpur, November 24

Skipper Harbhajan Singh’s three-wicket burst in an eight-over spell left Uttar Pradesh struggling at 205/8 in reply to Punjab’s first innings total of 272 here today.

With another 68 runs required for the home team to take the first innings lead, Punjab are in the driver’s seat, courtesy their skipper’s 3/31 which included the wickets of set batsmen Umang Sharma (49) and Akshdeep Nath (35). The off-spinner also accounted for wicketkeeper-batsman Ekalavya Dwivedi (27) caught by close-in fielder Mandeep Singh.

Left-arm medium pacer Deepak Bansal (2/22) bowled tight line while seamer Siddharth Kaul (2/71) chipped in with the wicket of captain Suresh Raina (0). Earlier, Punjab added 24 runs to their overnight score of 248/8 before being bowled out for 272 .

Haryana trail Rajasthan by 105 runs

Lahli: Haryana managed to reduce their deficit to 105 runs after conceding a big first-innings lead to Rajasthan. At the end of Day 2, Haryana were 62/0 in their second innings.

Earlier, replying to Haryana’s meagre first-innings total of 112, Rajasthan made 279 and took a big lead. Ashok Menaria (47), Puneet Yadav (46) and Siddharth Dobal (43) were the main contributors for Rajasthan.

For Haryana, medium pacer Mohit Sharma was the best bowler, returning with the figures of 5/56. Ashish Hooda and Harshal Patel picked up three and two wickets, respectively.

At the close of play, Nitin Saini (42) and Chaitanya Bishnoi (20) were going strong at the crease for Haryana. — PTI

Ranji Trophy 
Brief scores

Goa: 552/5 decl (S Asnodkar 232, S Kamat 105; P Rasool 4/169); Jammu &Kashmir: 43/2 in 11 overs

Jharkhand: 337 (Gautam 122, S Tiwary 79, B Sharma 6/56) bt Himachal Pradesh: 133 (Kalsi 53, Nadeem 7/45) and 133 (Nadeem 4/45) by an innings and 71 runs 

Punjab: 272 in 90.3 overs (M Siddhana 85, G Khera 74, P Kumar 4/81); Uttar Pradesh: 205/8 in 71 overs (S Raina 0, U Sharma 49, H Singh 3/31).

Haryana: 112 (P Singh 4/10, R Bhatia 3/41) and 62/0; Rajasthan: 279 (M Sharma 5/56) by 105 runs