Delhi-Punjab encounter meanders to a draw

In a match that witnessed tall scores, Punjab and Delhi had to be content with a draw in their North Zone Cooch Behar Trophy match at the Harbax Singh Stadium in Delhi on Saturday. With this encounter being the last in the league, Delhi (24) finished second only to Haryana (29) in the points table from four matches. Punjab are placed third with 19 points.

On the final day, Punjab, aided by a 101 run opening stand between Gaganinder Singh (71) and Binwant Singh (27), scored 109 in their second outing when stumps were drawn. Gaganinder Singh was the only casuality when he was caught by substitute Gidwani off Sachdeva.

Earlier, Delhi ran up a huge 320 in their first innings. The chief architect being opener Gautam Gambhir with an unbeaten 218. Gambhir, who stayed at the crease for 497 minutes, held the Delhi innings, which saw only three others make double figures, together. Delhi took a slender 16 run lead.

On the opening day, opting to bat, Punjab put up a fighting 304 on the board. The total being helped by a 71 run fifth wicket stand between Rajan Singh (39) and Baljit Singh (46). Then stumper C Madan (73) forged some useful partnerships with the later order batsmen to boost the total.