Punjab beat Bengal to win Men’s Cricket Under-23 One-Day League
February 14, 2018
Spirited Punjab lifted their maiden Men’s Cricket Under-23 One-Day trophy, scripting an easy four-wicket win against Bengal, at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur on Tuesday. Last month, Punjab boys had won the Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy at Mumbai, defeating nine-time champions Uttar Pradesh on the basis of first-innings lead.
Despite losing two wickets for 31 on Tuesday chasing 265, Punjab romped home with six balls to spare, losing six wickets. A 141-run third-wicket partnership between Sanvir Singh and Ramandeep Singh made all the difference.
Before being caught by Mohd Irfan off Amit Kulia, Sanvir struck a 90-ball 82, which contained seven hits to the fence, while Ramandeep scored 75 off 105 balls with the help of four boundaries and a six before being caught by Agni Pan, also off Amit Kuila.
Abhinav Sharma (33, 21b, 3×6) and ARK Malhotra (38*, 29b, 3×4) chipped in with some useful runs. For Bengal, Amit Kulia took 3/57, while T Pramanik, Raju Halder and Saurabh Singh took a wicket each.
Things didn’t look easy for Bengal after being asked to bat first on a green wicket. They lost opener Sourav Puri on duck in the third over, before losing Kazi Junaid Saifi (5) in the fifth over and Suvankar Bal (2) in the ninth over.
Bengal’s poor show didn’t stop here as next man Agniv Pav (12) too departed in the 18th over, reducing them to 54 for 4. But young opener Abhimanyu Eswaran kept stroking the ball nicely. He not only kept the scoreboard ticking with his flawless 137-ball unbeaten 142, which contained 13 hits to the fence and three sixes, but also helped the side post a challenging 264/5, adding 201 runs for the fifth wicket with Saurabh Singh (83, 100b, 8×4).
Arshdeep Singh, Jagjit Singh, Sanvir Singh and N Chaudhary shared four wickets between them for Punjab.
BRIEF SCORES: Bengal 264 for 5 in 50 overs (AR Eswaran 142*, Saurabh Singh 83) lost to Punjab 268 for 6 in 49 overs (Sanvir Singh 82, Ramandeep Singh 75, AR Malhotra 38; Amit Kuila 3/57) by four wickets.
