Punjabs Mandeep lives to tell a fairytale

Following the umpteen handshakes and hugs,Mandeep Singh sat on a sofa in the corner of his dressing room,watching the replay of the 264-ball unbeaten innings

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Following the umpteen handshakes and hugs,Mandeep Singh sat on a sofa in the corner of his dressing room,watching the replay of the 264-ball unbeaten innings that he played at the PCA Stadium earlier on Thursday. He smiled as the television packaged his boundaries,25 in all that he sprinkled across the ground. But 19-year old grimaced at the incident that occurred when he was batting on 34,slinking into a philosophical what-could-have-been mode.

A few runs short of his 50,the Punjab batsman took strike against Uttar Pradesh seamer Sudeep Tyagi. Beating Mandeeps bat with movement off the pitch,the ball kissed the off stump but as Mandeep looked back in horror,he couldnt believe his eyes,or his luck. The bails didnt fall and Mandeep made most of his chance. And as the shadows lengthened across Mohali in the evening,Mandeep was still there undefeated on a career high 158.

In just his eighth first-class appearance,Mandeep turned on the charm in front of the sparse home crowd as the hosts rode on the youngsters innings to end Day One of the opening 2011-12 Ranji game on at 329 for 5. From 51 for 2 in the days 13th over,the Punjab scoreboard collected a lot more positives than setbacks,thanks to a 167-run stand between Mandeep and lefty Karan Goel.

Goel,going,gone

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Just as Goel looked set for a big one,he threw his wicket away on 68 while trying to pull RP Singh to the square-leg boundary. It was RPs third of the day,and he would reach stumps on Thursday as the most successful UP bowler by a distance,with figures of 4/60 from 20 overs.

“RP Singh was bowling well,but I knew if we could face him with more caution,runs would come from the other bowlers,” Mandeep,who scored his second Ranji ton,said at the end of the day. Considering RP had torn through the top order single-handedly,it probably wasnt easy for No.4 batsman Mandeep to walk in after Punjab openers Sarul Kanwar (38) and Ravi Inder Singh (5) were dismissed in quick succession.

Kanwar had made heads turn during his stint with the Mumbai Indians. But unable to break out of the T20 mode,an extremely aggressive Kanwar caused his own downfall by trying to play one shot too many. After Ravi Inder was caught by Raina in the slips,Harbhajans Punjab were in a bit of bother,but Mandeep stuck to his plan of seeing off RP and delivered the results.

Brief scores: Punjab 329/5 in 91 overs (Mandeep batting 158,K Goel 68,RP Singh 4/60) vs Uttar Pradesh