Himachal on verge of an innings defeat
Excellent bowling performance from Punjab forced Himachal Pardesh to follow-on and they are again five down for 216 runs in 2nd innings in the North Zone Ranji Trophy league cricket match being played at PCA Stadium, Mohali
Staff Reporter
03-Nov-2001
Excellent bowling performance from Punjab forced Himachal
Pardesh to follow-on and they are again five down for 216 runs
in 2nd innings in the North Zone Ranji Trophy league cricket
match being played at PCA Stadium, Mohali.
Himachal Pradesh resumed their overnight innings from 147 for
5 with not out batsman Sangram Singh and Sandeep Sharma. Both
played with great courage and showed some resistance against a
disciplined attack. Sangram Singh completed his half century
in 81 balls with the help of 8 fours. Trying to pull a short
pitched rising delivery on leg stump from Amit Uniyal, he
snicked the ball for keeper Dharmani, who took the catch and
Uniyal gave a vital breakthrough to his team. The duo added
49 runs for the sixth wicket partnership.
After the departure of Sangram Singh tailenders could not stay
longer and for the addition of only 17 runs they lost another
four wickets. Debutant Amit Uniyal took three wickets for 33
runs while Vineet Sharma and Babloo Kumar also accounted for
three wickets each after giving away 83 and 12 runs
respectively.
Forced to follow-on, Himachal started their 2nd innings on a
sound note as Nischal Gaur (51) and Raza Ali (14) added 46
runs for the first wicket. Raza Ali was brilliantly caught at
third slip by Dinesh Mongia who took a single handed high
catch to his left off the bowling of Vineet Sharma. Nayyar (5)
joined Gaur but with the addition of 8 runs to the total he
was trapped in front of wicket by Sandeep Sawal.
Sangram Singh and Nischal Gaur played cautiously and kept the
scoreboard moving. Gaur completed his half century in 100
balls with the help of 5 hits to the fence. Amit Uniyal gave
another jolt to Himachal team as he clean bowled Sangram Singh
(13) with a yorker. The scoreboard was showing 91 runs for
three wickets. With the addition of just two runs to the total
Nischal Gaur lost his patience and was trapped in front of
wicket by left arm spinner Babloo Kumar.
Here comes the brightest part of the innings when Sandeep
Sharma joined skipper Virender Sharma. Both played
aggressively and added 50 runs in just 62 balls. Virender was
most instrumental in scoring runs at a quick pace. Virender
completed his fifty with a cheeky single to point off Sandeep
Sawal. He took 75 balls to complete his half-century which
was studded with 7 boundaries and a huge six. The duo
completed the 100-run partnership in 144 balls for the fifth
wicket, which is a record for the fifth wicket against any
team in this version of game.
Sandeep Sharma who was shaping well for a big score played
early to a slower delivery from Anit Uniyal and gave a simple
catch to Dinesh Mongia at mid-off. Sandeep scored 44 runs in
76 balls with 7 hits to fence. The duo added valuable 117
runs for their team and give them some stability and respect.
At the draw of stumps on day three Virender Sharma was
batting on 61 while Paras Dogra had 5 to his name.
Himachal still requires 113 runs to avoid innings
defeat with five wickets in hand. Amit Uniyal
captured two wickets at the cost of 51 runs, while
Babloo Kumar, Sandeep Sawal and Vineet Sharma snared a
wicket each.