Haryana and Punjab settle for a draw

The North Zone Cooch Behar Under-19 Trophy match between Punjab and Haryana at the Maharaja Aggarsain Stadium in Rohtak ended in a draw on the third and final day on Tuesday. Haryana in lieu of the first innings lead took five points, while Punjab had to be content with three.

On the final day, Punjab scored 314 in their second innings, thereby setting Haryana a target of 205. Haryana got to face just seven overs in which they scored 24 runs with the openers M Bisla (12) and Bhuvanesh Sharma (7) remaining unbeaten.

Earler resuming at 91 for 2, Punjab were helped by useful contributions by VS Sodhi (27), C Madan (24) and skipper Gagandeep Singh (25). But Punjab owed their final total mainly to the last wicket partnership of 93 runs off 21.5 overs between A Uniyal (61) and G Mandora (32).

On the opening day, put into bat, Punjab were shot out for just 132. Only three batsmen Binwanth Singh (11), VS Sodhi (24) and S Sawal (48) managed to reach double figures. Jogindar Sharma (4 for 46) along with Narwal (3 for 15) and Vashisht (3 for 32) shared the wickets for Punjab.

In response, Haryana took a solid 110-run first innings lead, thanks to a fighting 82 by Jogindar Sharma. He shared a 110-run eighth wicket stand in 38.3 overs with Y Sidharth Singh (33) which was instrumental in Haryana taking a big lead.