Delhi lose again, this time to Himachal

Delhi sunk to their second consecutive defeat when Himachal Pradesh thrashed them by seven wickets on Sunday, reports Heena Zuni Pandit.

Delhi sunk to their second consecutive defeat when Himachal Pradesh thrashed them by seven wickets on Sunday.

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Knowing that even a 300-plus target could be chased down on this wicket (Punjab chased down Delhi's 338 the other day), Himachal sent in Delhi and restricted them to just 234 runs, and then chased it down with seven wickets to spare.

The highlight of the day was a century by Himachal opener Sangram Singh. The knock, studded with 11 boundaries and two sixes, anchored the chase and eventually, with the help of an unbeaten half-century from skipper Paras Dogra (70), saw the team home without breaking a sweat.

He was particularly harsh on Puneet Mehra. The bowler went wicketless in his nine overs, conceding 64 runs. Mehra, though, had his chance to dismiss Sangram, but he couldn't hold on to a return catch. Sangram eventually fell to Nehra with Shikhar Dhawan taking a fine catch at extra covers.

Paras, dropped on 5 by Delhi skipper Virat Kohli, however , remained unperturbed and kept pushing towards victory. He first shared a 127-run partnership for the third wicket with Sangram and then completed the formalities with Vineet Indulkar (28).

The Delhi bowlers failed to impress. With a small total to defend, Delhi needed some early breakthroughs from Ashish Nehra, but he succeeded in getting his first wicket only in the 39th over of the match. By then, it was all over for Delhi. Left arm spinner Vikas Mishra too couldn't pick up a wicket.

For Delhi, Joginder Singh (52no) and Puneet Bisht (51) were the top scorers.

Haryana win

Rohtak: Haryana beat Services by 5 runs to continue their winning streak. Batting first, Haryana were all out for 209. Opener Rahul Dewan (77) and Sachin Rana (45) were the main contributors. For Services, Jasvir Singh waged a lone battle with a gritty 78, but his fine effort couldn't see the team home. Services fell for 204. Brief Scores: Haryana 209 all out (Rahul Dewan 77, Joginder Sharma 44, Sachin Rana 45; Fazil Mahhamad 2-33, Amrinder Singh 2-44) beat Services 204 all out (Jasvir Singh 78, Tahir Khan 33, Soomik Chaterjee 33; Joginder Sharma 2-37, Sachin Rana 2-23) by 5 runs.

Punjab beat J&K

Gurgaon: Punjab cantered to an easy 8-wicket win over Jammu and Kashmir. Batting first, J&K were bowled out for mere 170. Punjab chased down the target losing just two wickets in the process. Brief Scores: J&K 170 all out (Parvez Rasool not out 81, Obaid Ahemad 24; Gony 3-36, Jaskaran 3-23) lost to Punjab 174 for 2 (Karan Goel not out 100, Uday Kaul 57; S BEigh 1-31, M Gupta 1-44) by 8 wkts.