Innings win for Punjab

Patiala: Hosts Punjab did not face any problem in decimating Jammu & Kashmir by an innings and 117 runs in their Cooch Behar trophy tie here on Thursday. After putting up a timid and uninspired display on the opening day, J & K were expected to cast aside their weariness and disappointment of yesterday's play. On the contrary they came up with yet another pathetic show from their batsmen.

Resuming at their overnight first innings total of 15 for 5, the J & K tail wagged merrily to enable the team to cross the three figure mark. Following on, the Punjab bowlers again put them on a tight leash and bundled them for just 155 runs in the second innings giving themselves a morale boosting win.

For long, J & K have come to be known as the "whipping boys" in the North Zone cricket in all grades - be it the Ranji Trophy, Cooch Behar or even the Vijay Merchant Trophy and with their performance in this match the tag remains intact. So disastrous was the display of the visitors that thet were beaten outright before tea on the second day of the thee-day match.

For Punjab Gagandeep Singh and Amit Uniyal took four wickets each giving away 22 and 33 runs respectively in the first innings while Sanjay Dhull captured five wickets at the cost of 51 runs and Sandeep Sanwal got three wickets for 53 runs. With today's win, the hosts have garnered the maximum of eight points.