Chandigarh, January 12
After two days of frost, bright sun allowed the third day’s play of the Ranji Trophy between Chandigarh and Vidarbha at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium here today.
Vidarbha opener SR Ramaswamy (133) stole the limelight by scoring a perfect ton. The visitors, who played only four overs in the last two days, posted 307/6 before declaring their innings. With a 291-run lead, Vidarbha is now in a strong position and a lot will depend on their bowling attack during tomorrow’s play.
Meanwhile, resuming from 9 for no loss, batters from the visiting side troubled Chandigarh bowlers on several occasions. The opening pair of Ramaswamy and FY Fazal raised a 69-run partnership. The duo was looking good to sustain Chandigarh’s attack, but Hartejassvi accounted for skipper Fazal (25) to have his first wicket of the match. Later, Ramaswamy was joined by Atharva Taide and the duo raised a 160-run partnership for the second wicket. The duo faced 247 balls to score the highest partnership, so far, of the match.
Ramaswamy scored 133 off 172 balls, with 15 boundaries and three sixes, before falling prey to Bhagmender Lather. Taide also followed the suit as pacer Sandeep Sharma claimed his wicket for 76 off 150 balls, with seven boundaries and one six, on the team’s total of 255/3. Bhute then scored a quick-fire 46 off 30 balls, with two boundaries and three sixes. He raised a 25-run partnership with Ganesh Satish (10) before becoming Hartejassvi’s second victim of the day. With Bhute’s dismissal, the visitors declared their inning at 307/6 after playing 73.2 overs.
Hartejassvi (2/40), Sandeep Sharma (2/59) and Bhagmender (2/88) shared two wickets each for the bowling side.
In reply, Chandigarh boys were 16/1 at the draw of stumps. Bhute accounted for Mohammed Arslan Khan (5), while Arjit Singh (5) and Gaurav Gambhir (0) remained unbeaten.
Jamp;K bowlers restrict Punjab to 268 runs
A fine performance by Jammu amp; Kashmir bowlers restricted hosts Punjab to 268 runs at IS Bindra PCA Stadium, Mohali. Chasing 218 runs, the hosts were bundled out for 268 runs. Rohit Sharma (3/63) and Umar Nazir (3/73) remained the main wicket takers for the visitors. Abid Mustaq (2/49), Taizeem Younis Tak (1/20) and Auqib Nabi (1/50) also claimed wickets. Punjab skipper Mandeep Singh (69 off 104 balls, with nine boundaries) remained the top scorer for the side. Later, Gurnoor Brar (64 off 60 balls, with five boundaries and three six) saved the side to surpass the visitors’ total. Mandeep and Gurnoor raised a 100-run partnership for the 8th wicket. Abhishek Sharma (32) and Prabhsimran Singh (20) also contributed to the team’s total. In their second innings, Jammu amp; Kashmir lads were 18/1 at the draw of stumps to trail by 38 runs. Earlier in their first innings, Jammu amp; Kashmir lads, after resuming from their overnight first innings total of 176/6, posted 212 runs. Abdul Samad and Fazil Rashid scored 46 runs each to remain the most successful contributors for the side. Baltej Singh claimed a five-wicket haul for 47 runs, while Siddharth Kaul (4/82) remained the second best performer for the bowling side. Mayank Markande also accounted for one wicket.
