Amit bowls Chandigarh to victory

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 3

Amit Shukla claimed six wickets to help Chandigarh register a 50-run win against hosts Jalandhar in the ongoing Punjab Inter-District Cricket Championship for DP Azad Trophy, at the Bultron Park, on Friday. 

Electing to bat, city boys scored rode on a 104-run opening wicket partnership between Ishan Goel and Arjun Azad to score 251/8 in 45 overs.

The duo was separated when Goel was caught by Kulwinder Singh off Kunwar on 44 runs. Azad made 73-ball 60 before he became the second victim of Kunwar.  

 Lakshya Rakhra made 36 runs, while skipper Ayush Gautam hit a brisk 40 to help the visitors reach a competitive total. Aayush Sikka chipped in with a quick-fire 23.  

Kunwar (2/34) and Arun Kalia (2/40) claimed two wickets each for the hosts, while Kulwinder Singh and Rajan Kashyap bagged a wicket apiece. 

Needing 252 runs for victory, the hosts failed to negotiate the guile of left-arm spinner Amit Shukla and folded up their innings on 201 runs in 43.1 overs. 

Rajan Kashyap, Gurpreet Singh and Ridham Satyawan offered some resistance but failed to carry their side through. While opener Kashyap fell to Shukla on 46, wicketkeeper batsman Gurpreet was dismissed by the spinner on 42 runs. 

Satyawan fell to another left-arm spinner Yuvraj Choudhary on 38 runs.  

Jalandhar lost their last five wickets for the addition of just 29 runs as Shukla wiped off the tail to return with a match haul of 6/24 from his 7.1 overs.  

Choudhary claimed 2/32, while Jagdeep Singh and Harshit Singh took a wicket each. 

Chandigarh have now won both their matches so far in the tournament and sit on the top of the table with a total of eight points. 

Akash helps Amritsar win

At Gandhi Grounds in Amritsar, an all-round display by Akash Singh helped the hosts register a five-wicket win over Mohali.

Opting to bat, Mohali failed to put on a challenging total as they lost wickets at regular intervals to close their innings on 204/8 in 50 overs. 

Tailenders Hardik and Gursukhan put up a great fight and added 51 runs for the eighth wicket to give some respectability to the total after the visitors were reeling at 138/7. 

Hardik made an unbeaten run-a-ball 46, while Gursukhan scored 21 runs off 29 balls before falling to Abhishek Sharma. Earlier, Kunwarjit Singh made a sedate 55 for Mohali.

Akash Singh was the most effective bowler for the hosts, claiming 4/23 in his 10 overs. Arjun Poppal took 2/31 and Abhishek Sharma and Dipanshu Chadda picked a wicket apiece.  

In reply, Amritsar banked on 110-run third-wicket partnership between Abhishek Sharma and Sumit Sharma and an unbeaten 60-run knock by Akash Singh to reach home in 44.3 overs after the side were struggling at 2/6. 

Abhishek smashed 73 runs off 69 balls, while Sumit made a patient 67-ball 41. 

For Mohali, Harry Dhaliwal bagged 2/27, while Anshul Negi, Kunwarjit and Hardik picked a wicket each.

Patiala beat Ludhiana 

In another match, Patiala defeated Ludhiana by 42 runs on their home turf at Dhruv Pandove Stadium. 

Batting first, Patiala scored 262/7 in 50 overs, with Prabhsimran Singh hitting 67 off 69 balls and Haren Goel making a quick-fire 60. Tejpreet Singh made 58 off 41 balls. 

Kanishak Sharma claimed three wickets for the visitors, while Vaibhav Kalra, Deepin Chitkara, Samardeep and Manojt Singh took a wicket each. 

In reply, Ludhiana were all out for 220 runs, even as Nehal Wadhera made a solid 71. Chirag Sharma contributed 43 runs to the chase, while Harmanpreet Singh chipped in with a 27. 

For the hosts, Aryamann took two wickets while Vijay Ranjan, Deepak Kumar, Anurag Watts, Reteshwar Singh and Tejpreet Singh returned with a wicket each.