Ishan guides Chandigarh to victory

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 1

Ishan Goel scored a sedate century to help Chandigarh register a 71-run win over hosts Amritsar in their opening match of the DP Azad Trophy at the Gandhi Grounds on Wednesday.    

Batting first, the city boys scored a competitive 244/3 in the allotted 50 overs, with opener Goel hitting 109 runs off 125 balls. Lakshay Rakhra made 42 runs while Ayush Gautam remained unbeaten on 41.       

Amritsar, in reply, were all out for 173 runs in 44.2 as Chandigarh bowlers led by Harshit struck at regular intervals and did not allow the hosts breathe easy.     

Harshit returned with figures of 3/37, while Jagdeep Singh claimed 2/26. Raj Angad Bawa, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Amit Shukla and Lakshay Rakhra scalped a wicket each. 

Chandigarh had a decent start to their innings as Goel and Arjun Azad added 57 runs for the opening wicket before Abhishek Sharma struck for the hosts; trapping Azad in front on 25 runs. 

Goel, however, found a perfect foil in Lakshay Rakhra and together they raised a 103-run partnership for the second wicket. The duo was separated when Rakhra was stumped by Salil Arora off Dipanshu Chadha on 42.

Goel in the meanwhile went on to complete his century and added another 53 runs in company of Ayush Gautam. He eventually fell to Vishesh Mehra on 109 runs, which included 14 boundaries and a six. Gautam made a quick-fire 41 to propel the visitors to 244 runs.  

Needing to score at just under five runs per over for victory, Amritsar batsmen failed to stitch any substantial partnership and lost wickets at regular intervals to fold up their innings on 173 runs.       

Indian U-19 all-rounder Abhishek Sharma kept the hosts in the hunt with a 38-ball 55, but once he departed, Amritsar lost their way.     

Sumit Sharma was the only other batsman to put some fight. He made 33 runs before returning to the hut.    

Dipin floors Mohali 

At the PAU grounds in Ludhiana, the hosts rode on Dipin Chitkara’s five-wicket haul to seal a six-wicket win against Mohali.  

Batting first, the visitors were bowled out for a below par 114 runs in 44 overs as Chitkara returned with figures of 5/12.

Anshul Negi topped the scoring chart for Mohali with an unbeaten 34.

Ludhiana, in reply, reached home in 30.4 overs with six wickets to spare. Nehal Wadhera, fresh from his India U-19 stint, scored an unbeaten  64. 

Ayush Goel, Anshul Negi and Gursukhn Singh claimed a wicket each for Mohali.

Pukhraj puts Patiala on top

In another match, Patiala beat visitors Jalandhar by 148 runs at Dhruv Pandove Stadium after Pukhraj Singh cracked a century to guide the hosts to a challenging 294/9.

Batting first, Pukhraj Singh and Prabhsimran Singh added 122 runs for the opening wicket to provide a solid platform to the Patiala innings.     

Prabhsimran was caught by Arun Kalia off Lovepreet Singh after hammering a 58-ball 88, which included nine boundaries and six sixes.  

Pukhraj, meanwhile, was more sedate in his approach and brought up 107 runs off 137 balls with the help of three boundaries and four sixes before returning to the hut. Fatehbir Singh contributed 31 runs to the Patiala total. 

Arun Kalia (3/44) and Lovepreet Singh (3/49) picked three wickets apiece for the visitors.  

Needing 295 runs for victory, Jalandhar managed just 146/9 in 50 overs as Deepak Kumar led Patiala attack put the visitors on a tight leash. Kumar bagged 3/14, while Tejpreet Singh (2/42) and Vijay Ranjan (2/18) claimed two wickets each. 

Gurpreet Singh was the top scorer for the visitors with 64 runs, while Azam Nazar chipped in with 37 runs.