Punjab send Jammu & Kashmir packing

Punjab U-22 picked up eight points with an outright victory over Jammu & Kashmir in the North Zone U-22 tournament at the Dhruv Pandove Stadium, Delhi.

Opting to bat, the Punjab top order piled a healthy total of 357 for eight declared off 104 overs in the first innings. Opener V Mahajan scored a patient 63 off 119 deliveries with seven boundaries to his name. Sachin Kumar chipped in with 62 off 103 balls, laced with nine hits to the fence. A Kakaria (95) and A Sondhi added 113 runs for the sixth wicket off 33.4 overs. Kakaria missed his century by five runs, dismissed by Salam. His 198 balls innings had 13 hits to the boundary. Sondhi was unbeaten on 57 with four boundaries in his 95 ball innings.

In reply, Babloo Kumar shut the doors on the Jammu & Kashmir top order, scalping six for 25 off 16.2 overs. Amarinder Singh bagged three for 37 off his eleven overs. Jammu & Kashmir folded out for 128 in 51.2 overs. Jammu & Kashmir followed on and made a steady recovery with openers A Jalani (39) and Vivek Singh (26) adding 47 for the first wicket. The middle order batsmen Hardeep Singh (43)and Sanjay Sharma (44) chipped in with useful efforts. Inderjeet Singh returned unbeaten on 61 as Jammu & Kashmir folded out for 260 in 87 overs. Amit Kakaria bagged six for 45 off 20 overs to restrict the batsmen. Punjab batsmen scored 35 runs losing one wicket in 4.5 overs to clinch victory.