Railways take 158-run lead
Railways took a vital 158-run first innings lead over Punjab when they scored 407 on the third day of their
Ranji Trophy semi-final, in Mohali on Saturday.
Resuming at their overnight score of 203 for three, Railways were
all out for 407, about half an hour before stumps.
Punjab, who had made 249 in the first innings, were
six without loss in their second knock by close of play.
Sanjay Bangar could add only 12 runs to his overnight 77
before being caught by rival skipper Vikram Rathore off Babloo
Kumar for 89. Bangar added 87 runs with his captain Abhay
Sharma as Railways lost their fourth wicket at 241.
Railways lost two more wickets for the addition of just
one run. Sharma was run out for 53, which had ten hits to the
fence, and Raja Ali was caught by Ravneet Ricky off Babloo
Kumar for one.
But Shreyas Khanolkar and the rest of the tailenders put
up a determined performance to ensure a healthy lead for their
team. Khanolkar contributed 48 before being caught by Pankaj
Dharmani off Sandeep Sawal.
Santosh Sahu (21), Kulamani Parida
(36 no), Zakir Hussain (30) and Harvinder Singh (27) also
chipped in with useful scores.
For the hosts, Babloo Kumar was the most succesful bowler,
claiming three wickets for 48 runs while Reetinder Sodhi and
Vineet Sharma took two each.
At close, Ricky was batting on two while Munish Sharma was
yet to open his account.
Punjab still need 152 runs to force
the visitors to bat again.
Scoreboard
Punjab (1st innings): 249
Railways (1st innings):
A Pagnis c Kakaria b Vineet 27
S Bangar c Rathore b Babloo 89
Tejinderpal Singh c Babloo b Sodhi 26
Yere Goud lbw Sodhi 25
A Sharma run out 53
Raja Ali c Ricky b Babloo 1
S Khanolkar c Dharmani b Sawal 48
S Sahu c Vineet b Babloo 21
K Parida not out 36
Z Hussain c Munish b Vineet 30
Harvinder Singh b Gagandeep 27
Extras (B7, LB4, NB10, W3) 24
Total (all out, 170.5 overs): 407
Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-98, 3-154, 4-241, 5-241, 6-242,
7-310, 8-316, 9-359.
Bowling: Gagandeep Singh 34.5-9-84-1, Vineet Sharma
34-5-113-2, R Sodhi 34-12-76-2, Babloo Kumar 32-16-48-3, S
Mahajan 6-4-7-0, Sandeep Sawal 30-11-68-1.
Punjab (2nd innings):
R Ricky batting 2
M Sharma bating 0
Extras (B4) 4
Total (in three overs) 6
Bowling: Harvinder Singh 2-0-1-0, Tejinder Pal Singh
1-0-1-0.
Mail Cricket Editor
