Easy victory for Bishnoi CC over PCA Colts

Orissa Ranji player SS Das (79 off 81 balls) and Railways Ranji player Tejinder Singh (4 for 38) enabled Bishnoi Cricket Club to rout PCA Colts by seven wickets in the 7th JP Atray cricket tournament in Chandigarh today.

Electing to bat, PCA Colts piled by 203 for eight in their stipulated overs. In reply Bishnoi Cricket Club chased the total successfully in 34.2 overs for the loss of only three wickets. The match was reduced to 40 overs a side as the outfield was soggy due to overnight rain.

Ankur Kakkar and Gaganinder Garry who opened for PCA Colts were up against a hostile spell of bowling by former Test star Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Haryana Ranji player Vineet Jain. The initial breakthrough was provided by Jain who had Garry caught at first slip by J.Arun Kumar. Later Jain he had Kakkar caught by Gautam Ghambir when the batsman failed to reach double figures.

The introduction of former Test medium pacer Ashish Nehra further compounded the problem as runs were hard to come by. At the halfway mark, PCA Colts could manage just 82 runs. Then skipper Pankaj Dharmani consolidated the innings with a defiant knock of 30 runs. The backbone of the PCA Colts was broken by left arm spinner Tejinder Singh who claimed four important wickets including the prize wicket of Dharmani. However the gallant effort of SP Singh who smashed an unbeaten 53 runs off the same number of deliveries enabled the PCA Colts to reach their final total.

Bishnoi Club were rocked early as Arun Kumar and Nikhil Haldipur were trapped in front of the wicket with hardly anything on the board. Gautam Ghambir and Orissa skipper SS Das played well to take the team out of trouble. Undeterred by the loss of the two early wickets, Ghambir flourished with a series of boundaries. He withstood the pressure applied by the PCA Colts bowlers to complete his half century off just 31 balls with nine boundaries. Das gave him good company, playing the anchor role.

At the drinks break after 20 overs, Bishnoi Club had scored 108 runs for the loss of two wickets. After the departure of Ghambir, who made a well compiled 78 off 83 balls, it was left to Das to take his team to victory with a splendid knock of 79 runs off 81 balls. Bishnoi Club achieved the target easily in the 35th over. Das was declared man of the match.