Chandigarh, December 8
The three-day Vijay Merchant Trophy (U-16) match between Chandigarh and Haryana ended in a draw as the first innings remained unfinished at Odisha.
In reply to Chandigarh’s first innings total of 466 runs, Haryana lads were playing 291/5 at the draw of stumps on the last day of the match. Resuming from their overnight score of 37/0, Haryana team lost their first wicket as Ritik Sandhu accounted for Saksham Sharma (64 off 90 balls, with 12 boundaries). Thereafter, Gaganpreet claimed Lokesh Beniwal’s wicket to reduce the side to 130/2. Skipper Beniwal scored 42 off 118 balls, with six boundaries.
Post-lunch, Chandigarh bowlers failed to take wickets. Aman Bharadwaj and Karan Sheoran remained raised a 70-run partnership to trouble Chandigarh bowlers. Shivam Nagrath gave Chandigarh a much-needed breakthrough as he claimed Bhardwaj (55 off 105 balls, with nine boundaries). Sheoran (33 off 130 balls, with three boundaries) fell prey to Anish Mittal. Thereafter, Rudraksh Narwal saved the day for Haryana as he scored unbeaten 67 off 96 balls, with 11 boundaries. Narwal, along with Aditya Sharma (14 off 36 balls), ended the last day at 291/5.
Nagrath claimed two wickets, while Mittal, Ritik Sandhu and Gaganpreet Singh took a wicket each for the bowling side. Chandigarh will play their next match against Manipur from December 11.
