Ranji Trophy: Himachal fight back to post 324/6 vs Punjab

New Delhi: Himachal Pradesh overcame a shaky start with half-centuries from skipper Ankit Kalsi, Akash Vashisht and Raghav Dhawan to notch up 324/6 on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group F match against Punjab here today. Opting to bowl, Punjab reduced Himachal to 21/2 inside 10 overs with their new-ball bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Baltej Singh dismissing openers Prashant Chopra (13) and Abhimanyu Rana (3) in successive overs. Skipper Kalsi then steadied the Himachal ship with Dhawan as they negotiated Punjab’s bowlers with ease to see through the first session at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The duo put together 139 runs for the third wicket with Dhawan scoring a 125-ball 73 before being run out by Abhishek Sharma. Kalsi followed soon after, being trapped by Gurkeerat Mann in the 57th over but Himachal got going with Vashisht remaining unbeaten on 78. He shared 95 runs with Nikhil Gangta (45) as Punjab got a strong resistance from Himachal’s lower-order batters.

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Brief Scores: Himachal Pradesh: 324/6 in 90 overs (Kalsi 88, Vashisht 78 not out, Dhawan 73, Gangta 45) vs Punjab; Haryana: 327/4 in 90 overs (Yashu 101 not out, Shubham 61, Kapil 56) vs Tripura; Delhi: 291/7 (Dhull 113, Sidhu 71) vs Tamil Nadu; Hyderabad: 270/7; 88 overs (Vihari 59; Jagjit 3/50) vs Chandigarh.