3 Chandigarh players hit tons, as city take 123-run lead

Playing on a familiar turf, the Chandigarh innings witnessed three centuries to take a 123-run lead against Uttarakhand at the draw of stumps, in the Col CK Nayudu Trophy match being played at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium. The UT opener, Dipender Kush, scored an unbeaten 190, while his crease-mate Dushyant posted 104. Down in the middle order, Aarush Bhandari posted 125 to help the tea score 457/4— replying to the first innings 334 of Uttarakhand.

Resuming from 39 for no loss, openers Kush and Dushyant started steadily and went to record a 193-run stand. Dushyant completed 104 off 156 balls, with 13 boundaries and three sixes, before falling prey to DP Singh. Harsh Rana, thereafter, accounted Mohit Mehra (8) and Raghav Verma (11) to trouble the side at 237/3. However, Kush, along with Bhandari, raised a 220-run partnership off 251 balls to help the side reach 457.

In the last over, Bhandari turned out to be the last wicket for Chandigarh as Rana again provided a much-needed breakthrough for Uttarakhand. Bhandari posted 125 off 108 balls, studded with 16 boundaries and three sixes, while Kush remained unbeaten at 190 off 324 balls, with 21 boundaries. Rana remained the pick of the bowlers, as he claimed 3/112, while DP Singh picked 1/27.

Earlier, Chandigarh bowlers Jaskirat Singh Mehra and Nishunk Birla shared seven wickets to restrict Uttarakhand to 334. Birla claimed 4/90, and Mehra accounted 3/78.

Punjab lead by 286

Playing at Mullanpur, Punjab claimed a 286-run lead at the draw of the stumps against Baroda. After bundling out the visiting team at 160, the Punjab innings witnessed a late century, as Harjas Singh Tandon posted an unbeaten 105 off 133 balls, with 11 boundaries and seven sixes. He came out to bat at No 8. He was ably supported by Emanjot Singh Chahal, who posted 51 off 96 balls (with seven boundaries) to raise 118-run unbeaten stand for 8th wicket.

Earlier, Mayank Gupta contributed 77 off 160 balls, with eight boundaries and one six, alongside Rahul Kumar (44), Krish Bhagat (63), Eish Rao (37), Yuvi (27) and Jaskaran Singh Paul (20). Vaibhav picked three, and Priyanshu Moliya took two for the bowling side. Karan Umatt and Hrushikesh Rakhe claimed one each.