Vijay Merchant Trophy: City team enters knockout stage

Chandigarh entered the knockout of the Vijay Merchant Trophy. The side scored 15 points from four draw finishes, and one win, to finish below Punjab, which qualified with 21 points.

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Chandigarh lads bagged maximum points from a draw against Himachal Pradesh on the basis of the first innings lead during the ongoing Vijay Merchant Trophy in Karnataka. Needing 288-run to win on the last day, Himachal batters posted 164/1, when the stumps were drawn. Earlier, resuming from their overnight score of 62 for no loss, Chandigarh posted 231/3 before declaring their innings.

Chandigarh batters Anurag Bhudhwar and Yashjeet Singh started city’s second innings. It was good start for the side as the duo scored 118 for opening wicket. Budhwar (50 off 99 balls) was bowled out by Kishan Kumar as Himachal managed to get the much needed breakthrough. Yashjeet also departed soon as Om Mahadev got his first wicket of the innings. Yashjeet posted 69 off 118 balls, studded with 11 boundaries.

Akul Bhanot, who posted 150 in the previous innings, took the charge but fell prey to Mahadev for 28 off 29 balls with three boundaries and a six. As the side was down to 163/3, skipper Daksh Kashyap and Arjunveer Singh took the charge and went on to raise an unbeaten 68-run partnership. While Kahsyap remained unbeaten on 49 off 67 balls, Arjunveer contributed a stunning 32 off 43 balls. The Chandigarh innings was declared at 231. /Thereafter, Himachal batters started their day in the hope of finding a win. However, the side received first jolt when opener Arjun Pathania was caught by Budhwar off Parth for 16. Thereafter, skipper Manthan Gurung and Adil Rana held their nerves and raised an unbeaten 148-run stand to end the day with a draw. Gurung scored unbeaten 69 off 134 balls and Rana contributed 63 off 117 balls.

Parth took a total of six wickets in the match, including a fifer in the first innings for Chandigarh. Defending first innings total of 338, Parth packed Himachal batters at 282 in the first innings by claiming 5/54. Satwik Sood (2/29), Bhanot (1/27), Gulia (1/27) and Yashjeet (1/55) were the other main wicket takers for the side.

Punjab qualifies

Punjab has already qualified for the knock-out stage of the tournament by logging an innings and 22 runs win over Saurashtra. In reply to Saurashtra’s first innings total of 108, Punjab posted 266/6 before declaring their innings in 81.4 overs. Gursimran Singh posted 143 off 218 balls, with 19 boundaries and a six. In the second innings, Saurashtra batters failed again and were bundled out for 136. Sahibjotveer Singh claimed 6/55 for Punjab in the second innings, while Saksheya claimed two, and Jaspartap Singh and Advik Singh picked one each.