Himachal completes facile five wicket win over J&K

Himachal Pradesh completed a facile five wicket win over Jammu and Kashmir in their North Zone Cooch Behar Trophy Under-19 match at the Police Stadium in Chamba on the third and final day on Tuesday. Himachal Pradesh collected eight points.

Set to score 133 for a win, Himachal, guided by a fine 52 by opener H Dogra, needed just 23.1 overs to overhaul the J&K total. Dogra who lost his partner Prasanth Kumar with the score at 27, forged a 61-run second wicket stand in 12.1 overs, ensuring Himachal of victory. But after his fall, Himachal lost three further wickets before they reached home.

Earlier, on the opening day, J&K put into bat, put up a fighting 242 on the board. The chief architect was SS Salaria (87) who shared a 89 run fourth wicket stand with Sathyajit Singh (52). Then I Sheikh (22) frustrated the Himachal bowlers to take the score past the 200 run mark.

In reply Himachal took a slender 11 run first innings lead. Openers H Angarish (52) and Prasanth Kumar (45) gave Himachal a solid start by putting on 79 runs in 17.5 overs. The middle order batsmen came up with some useful contributions, helping Himachal to total 253.

J&K in their second innings were tottering at 33 for 6 before opener A Jalani (55) and SS Salaria (53) added 74 runs for the seventh wicket to help J&K post a moderate 143 on the board.