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Ranji Trophy: Anmolpreet, Nehal centuries bolster Punjab
Punjab were in a spot of bother with Naman Dhir, Mandeep Singh and Abhishek Sharma walking back to the dressing room in no time
Riding on superlative centuries from Anmolpreet Singh and Nehal Wadhera, Punjab on Tuesday posted an impressive 305/5 in their first innings on Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy tie against Madhya Pradesh being played at the IS Bindra PCA Stadium.
Having won the toss, Madhya Pradesh captain Aditya Shrivastava invited Punjab to bat. Openers Abhishek Sharma and Prabhsimran Singh could add 26 runs before Prabhsimran was sent packing by medium-pacer Avesh Khan for 13 runs.
Thereafter, Punjab were in a spot of bother with Naman Dhir, Mandeep Singh and Abhishek Sharma walking back to the dressing room in no time. The scorecard soon read 47/4.
Nehal and Anmolpreet then together stitched an impressive 250-run partnership to steady the ship for Punjab.
It was then that the experienced Avesh bagged Anmolpreet’s wicket in the 89th over. At the end of day’s play, Punjab were 305/5 in 90 overs with Nehal going steady at 123. Anmol Malhotra was at the crease with him.
Brief scores:
Punjab (1st Innings): 305/5 in 90 overs (Anmolpreet Singh 124, Nehal Wadhera 123 not out, Gourav Yadav 2/50, Avesh Khan 2/73)
Vivek, Upendra tons prop up Railways
After a shaky start, the centurions — opener Vivek Singh and skipper Upendra Yadav added 169 runs for the fifth wicket partnership to lift Railways to a decent total of 326/8 against hosts Chandigarh in a match being played at Sector-16 Cricket Stadium.
Earlier, Chandigarh had won the toss and invited the visitors to bat first. Railways led with a steady before the opposition’s pace attack struck. Shrestha Nirmohi drew the first blood for UT boys in the form of Shivam Chaudhary. Just five runs later, Gaurav Gambhir delivered the second blow to Railways by dismissing Pratham Singh.
Mohd Saif, who has been in good form so far in the tournament, also fell cheaply, as did Mrinal Deodhar. Amidst the fall of wickets, however, Vivek Singh completed his half-century and kept the scorer busy. He and captain Upendra Yadav stitched a brilliant 169 runs partnership in 252 balls, but the former was dismissed by Gaurav Gambhir at 108.
Upendra, meanwhile, scored a brilliant 113 runs off 138 balls studded with 12 boundaries and a six. Sandeep Sharma returned with his lethal pace attack in the final session of the day as he dismissed Karn Sharma (30) and Yuvraj (7). Unbeaten Akash Pandey added 18 before the stumps were called for the day.
Brief scores:
Railways (1st Innings): 327/8 in 88 overs (Vivek Singh 108, Upendra Yadav 113, Sandeep Sharma 5/87)
