Chandigarh lads force draw against Baroda

Chandigarh, February 27

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A fine performance by Chandigarh batsmen helped the side avoid a humiliating defeat against Baroda on the last day of the Ranji Trophy tie at Bhubaneswar today. While Baroda bagged three points on the basis of the first innings lead, Chandigarh won one point from this draw.

A timely ton by Ankit Kaushik (105) and good performances by Harnoor Singh Pannu, Mohammed Arslan Khan, Raj Angad Bawa and Gurinder Singh helped the side pull off this draw.

Chasing Baroda’s 349-run lead, Chandigarh boys scored 473/7 at the draw of stumps. After resuming from their overnight score of 234/2, Chandigarh lost their first wicket of the day when debutant Amrit Lal Lubana (36) was run out by substitute NA Rathva. Manan Vohra (64) followed the suit after falling prey to Bhargava Bhatt. Post lunch, Raj Angad Bawa with Kaushik stabled the innings by raising an 80-run partnership. The duo helped the side surpass 350 runs. Baroda’s Abhimanyu Singh was brought into attack and he claimed Bawa (41) and Arjit Singh (3) to reduce Chandigarh at 366/6.

Thereafter, a 62-run partnership between vice-captain Gurinder and Kaushik saved the day for Chandigarh. Gurinder posted 30 off 56 balls before Bhatt claimed his wicket. Kaushik, meanwhile, completed his first century of Elite group. He posted unbeaten 105 off 188 balls, to help Chandigarh score 473/7. Gaurav Gambhir (10) also remained unbeaten. Bhatt was the pick of bowlers as he claimed 3/133, while Abhimanyu accounted for 2/68.

Punjab beat Hry by 10 wkts

Punjab defeated Haryana by 10 wickets at Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi. Punjab lads bagged seven points from this outing. Haryana lads, who were struggling at 149/4 in their second innings, were bundled out for 203 runs. Baltej Singh (3/17), Siddharth Kaul (2/75), Abhishek Sharma (3/15), Sanvir (1/26) and Arshdeep (1/50) were the main wicket takers for the bowling side. Nishant Sandhu (57), YR Sharma (32) and Anshul Kamboj (24) remained the main performers for Haryana. In reply, Prabhsimran Singh (25) and Abhishek Sharma (20) helped Punjab chase the 42-run target. —