Punjab, UP and Orissa register innings wins

The recent round of Vijay Merchant Trophy Under-16 matches witnessed some thumping victories being registered by Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa in their respective zonal leagues.

A splendid seven wicket haul by Tarun Kanish characterised an innings and 93 run win by Punjab against Himachal Pradesh on the final day of their North Zone league match at the Dhruv Pandove Stadium in Patiala on Saturday.

Opting to bat on the opening day Punjab ran up a huge 381, with skipper Vishwas Bhalla (96) leading from the front. Vishwas who came in at the fall of opener Rahul Gupta, shared a 128 run fourth wicket partnership with Gaurav Gupta (91). Gaurav departed for obstructing the field after a 142 minute stay at the crease during which he faced just 146 balls and managed to find the boundary on 10 occasions. Vishwas then fell for a catch to Sachin Luthra off Kapoor Singh.

The total was then boosted by a 133 ball 51 by Ankur Jund, with the help of the tailenders. Himachal Pradesh in reply were reduced to 172 with Ankur (6 for 61) ripping through the HP lineup. Skipper Paras Dogra (36) was the top scorer. Following on, on the final day, HP fared worse, being bundled out for just 116 runs. Tarun Kanish was the wrecker in chief for Punjab with figures of 7 for 21.

Meanwhile in the Central Zone, Uttar Pradesh crushed Madhya Pradesh by an innings and 205 runs at the Kamala Club Ground. Uttar Pradesh in their first innings put up a massive 385 with the help of a neatly compiled 105 by opener SK Shukla. Shukla who was dismissed at the score of 211 had by then faced 206 balls during a 268 minute stay at the crease. The total was then boosted by a 65 run fifth wicket stand between skipper R Ilahi (62) and SK Raina (32). Thereafter a 57 run seventh wicket stand between stumper Mohd Amir (69) and P Gupta (16) which took the score past 300.

In reply, Madhya Pradesh were bundled out for just 84 runs. Only three batsmen, Prasanna Bhand (24), Rahul Bakshi (16) and Shadab Khan (20) managed to reach double figures. Avinash Yadav (4 for 10) and Gupta (4 for 17) were the pick of the UP bowlers. Following on MP fared none the better, being bundled out for 96 runs. Avinash Yadav returned figures of 5 for 17, finishing the match with a rich haul of 9 for 26 in the match.

The East Zone league match at the Engineering College Ground in Cuttack involving Orissa and Sikkim witnessed the hosts make a mince meat of Sikkim. Orissa scored an innings and 94 run win on the second day of play on Saturday. Sikkim, who chose to bat first, were bundled out for a paltry 39 with the topscore being 17 by stumper Sonam Tshering. The fact that six of them failed to open their accounts did not help their cause. Bignesh Mohanty with figures of 8 for 17 was the wrecker in chief for Orissa.

In response, Orissa declared their first innings at 234 for 5. Skipper SP Priyadarshan (51) was the top scorer. Sikkim fared a little better, the second time around scoring 101 runs. The wickets were shared by all around. B Mohanty finished the match with 11 wickets while giving away 40 runs in the bargain.