Haryana v Punbaj (Cooch-Behar, North Zone)

Anju and Anil Gulati, CricInfo
7-9 November 1998

Rohtak,

Punjab scored 193 for 6 at close on the opening day of their Cooch Behar Match against Haryana at Vishwakarma Stadium.

Earlier Punjab won the toss and elected to bat. Play started late due to bad weather. Only 10 overs were bowled before lunch. The Punjab openers, Munish Sharma (50) and Ravneet Singh (42*), gave their side a solid start. After Munish was dismissed, Yuvraj Singh played a useful knock of 42. His wicket fell at 139. Then there was a collapse with four wickets falling for the addition of 52 runs. At close today Harman Harry was not out on 4.

Day 2 Report

Punjab was in a commanding position at close of play on the second day, with Haryana struggling to avoid the follow-on.

A spectacular unbeaten knock of 103 by tail-ender Sharandeep Singh helped Punjab to recover from yesterday's middle-order batting collapse. Using the long-handle to good effect, Sharandeep hit three huge sixes and 11 boundaries in his innings which lasted for 173 minutes and 132 balls.

Resuming their innings from the overnight score of 195 for 6, Punjab lost the wicket of Ranveet at 206 when the batsman had made 51. He stayed at the wicket for 329 minutes and faced 256 balls to keep one end intact at a stage when wickets were falling at regular intervals at the other. Punjab's skipper Sanjay Kumar declared the first innings closed at 374 for 9. For Haryana, Ishan Ganda was the most successful bowler with 4 wickets for 72 runs.

In reply Haryana made a disastrous start, losing their first two wickets at 2. In the 4th over of the innings, Pankaj Behl accounted for Satish Ohlan (1) and Karan Amarnath (0). At close Haryana was in deep trouble at 46 for 4. The batsmen at the crease were Maninder Bola 19* and Anju Sharma 0*.

Day 3 Report

Haryana staved off defeat, with the match ending in a draw.

Punjab clinched five 5 pints on the basis of first innings lead and Haryana got 3. Today, resuming their innings at 46 for 4, the immediate task before the Haryana batsmen was to avoid the follow-on. Haryana were bowled out 126.

Surprisingly the Punjab skipper chose not enforce follow-on, opting for batting practice instead in the remaining three hours of play. At close Punjab had scored 126 for 1 in 43 overs. A first-wicket century partnership was the highlight of the Punjab second innings. Both openers Ravneet and Munish Sharma scored half-centuries. Ravneet was run out for 58 and Munish remained not out on 51.

Punjab has 21 points from 3 matches and Haryana 14 from an equal number of matches. Haryana take on Himachal at same venue on November 16.