Captain Saurabh propels Mohali

Jalandhar’s reply began on a disastrous note as Mandeep Singh junior was out without opening the account. After Akash Singh’s dismissal for 11,Mandeep Singh Senior and Pargat Singh put on 137 runs for the third wicket in 25.2 overs. Pargat was out for 91 off 111 balls but Mandeep continued to torment Mohali bowlers. His century (130) off 113 balls stole the limelight from Saurabh as Mandeep ensured Jalandhar were well on course to overhaul Mohali’s first inning’s total with six wickets in hand. Jalandhar were 246 for 4 in 50 overs when the stumps were drawn.

Brief scores :
Mohali (1st innings):343 all out in 139 overs (Saurav Chopra 128,Ankit Pursharthy 65,Birkanwar Singh 50,Shine Sharma 41,Gurkirat Singh 5 for 105,Jagrit Singh 2 for 44); Jalandhar (1st innings) 246 for 4 in 50 overs (Mandeep Singh 130,Pargat Singh 91,Siddharth 1 for 22).

Amritsar holds edge
Bowlers had the final say on Friday when their miserly spells saw the Amritsar team’s batting crawl at a snail’s pace. Bhavish Goel’s four wicket haul helped the Patiala team restrict Amritsar batsmen from freeing their arms as the guests were 210 for 6 in 104 overs.

Batting from their overnight score of 2 for no loss,openers Gagandeep Singh and Shiv Love were pinned down by the Patiala opening bowlers Pradeep Kumar and Amaninder Singh. They just laboured to 48 runs in 228 balls before Gagandeep’s agony at the crease was ended by Amaninder Singh who castled him for 23 off 101 balls in a stay of 157 minutes. Shivlove also perished at the same total of 48 when he was trapped by spinner Bhavish Goel for 20 off 133 balls. After Rohan Marwaha’s dismissal,Amandeep Bawa and Mohit Handa got their act together and took the score to 132 before Bhavish Goel struck again and had Bawa snapped by Karan Kaila for 46. Bhavish struck again by catching Mohit Handa off his own bowling for 33.

Amaninder Singh struck from the other end having Sunny Sandhu caught by Vicky Sharma without any addition to the total of 134. At this stage Amritsar were looking down the barrel having lost six wickets for 134 in 75.1 overs when Navneet Singh and Vinay Chaudhary mustered 76 runs for the seventh wicket and remained unbeaten till the end. Navneet was unbeaten on 29,while Vinay was giving him company on 42. Apart from Bhavish,Amaninder Singh took two wickets. Amritsar still need 42 runs for the important first innings lead with four wickets in hand.

Brief scores:
Patiala:252 all out in 98.4 overs; Amritsar: 210 for 6 in 104 overs (Amandeep Bawa 46,Vinay Chaudhary 42 no,Mohit Handa 33,Navneet Singh 29 no,Gagandeep 23,Shivlove 20,Bhavish Goel 4 for 70,Amaninder Singh 2 for 62).