Dhruv helps Patiala lift Markan Trophy

Tribune News Service

Mohali, May 10

Dhruv Rahul scored an unbeaten ton to help Patiala register a four-wicket win over Amritsar on the last day of their four-day final in the Punjab Inter-District U-16 Cricket Championship and lift the ML Markan Trophy at IS Bindra PCA Stadium here on Thursday. 

Chasing 202 runs for victory, Patiala were in trouble at 61/4 but Rahul kept his calm and stitched a vital 104-run partnership with Jaskirat Singh for the fifth wicket to shepherd his team to victory. 

While Rahul remained unbeaten on 117, Jaskirat was out after contributing a vital 32 to the chase.

Earlier, resuming the day at 246/6, Amritsar could add only 28 runs to their overnight total. Centurion Manroop Singh was the first  to go in the morning. He was cleaned up by Harjas after scoring a 205-ball 112.

Manroop’s dismissal triggered a collapse as Amritsar lost their remaining three wickets for the addition of just six runs and folded up their second innings on 274.     

Akashdeep Singh was trapped in front by Emanjot Singh before the batsman could open his account, while Anirudh was bowled by Harjas for naught. Fatehdeep Singh was run out by Jatin Yadav for 1. Arshdeep remained unbeaten on 35. 

Emanjot Singh was the most successful bowler for Patiala, claiming 3/43. Harjas Singh (2/74) and Kabir Garg (2/55) took two wickets each.

In reply, Patiala lost opener Divyansh Garg on three runs. He was caught by wicketkeeper Arshdeep Singh off Manroop for one.   

Jatin Yadav, who walked in at the dismissal of Garg, was trapped in front by Akashdeep for 11 runs as Patiala were reduced to 17/2 within the initial few overs of their innings. 

Siddharth Kathuria and Dhruv Rahul put on 34 runs for the third wicket before Fatehdeep Singh struck for Amritsar. 

Kathuria holed out to Sandeep Nishad after a painstaking 25 off 92 balls.  

Kabir Garg fell to Akashdeep for just two runs as Patiala slumped to 61/4 in 33.3 overs.   

Rahul, though, kept the one end up and along with Jaskirat Singh resurrected the Patiala innings with a crucial 104-run partnership for the fifth wicket.  

The duo was separated when Jaskirat was caught by Manroop off Fatehdeep for 32 runs. 

With Patiala still needing 37 runs for victory, Amritsar had a chance to come back into the match with the wicket of Ekampreet Singh. But Rahul and Harjas (13 not out) batted sensibly and ensured that the side reached home without any trouble. 

For Amritsar, Fatehdeep claimed 3/67, while Akashdeep returned with figures of 2/ 73. Manroop Singh bagged 1/25.

The winning team received the trophy and cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, while the runners-up were richer by Rs 50,000.