City, Jalandhar match ends in draw

Our Sports Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 20

The three-day match between Ludhiana and Jalandhar that concluded on Thursday at the Jathedar Santokh Singh Margind Sports Stadium Sewa Committee, Dulay village, near Phallai Sahib, ended in a draw.

In the ongoing Punjab State Inter-District (U-16) Cricket Tournament, Ludhiana skipper Lovepreet Singh won the toss and opted to bat first and his decision turned out to be a wise and calculated one, as they posted a mammoth total of 520 runs in their first essay.

The highlight of their innings was a triple ton by Jaskaran Vir. He remained at the wicket for 544 minutes, faced 464 balls and scored 204 runs with the help of one six and 48 hits over the fence.

Other notable contributors were Saksham Vij and captain Lovepreet Singh, who chipped in with 86 and 53 runs, respectively.

For visitors, Aryan Arora was the most successful bowler. He sent down 50.4 overs, 16 of which were maiden and conceded 112 runs to grab five wickets. Rohit Kumar captured three wickets for 147 runs in 38 overs.

Jalandhar began its reply on a shaky note with the opener Adiya Joshi losing his wicket without scoring a run. However, Akashjit Dhillon and Kumar Dhananjay steadied the innings and thwarted hosts’ attempts to taste another quick success.

The pair added 162 runs before being separated. Dhillon scored 65 runs, while Kumar made 170 runs. Jalandhar skipper, Ridham Satyawan remained unbeaten on 70 runs as the visitors scored 356 runs for the loss of five wickets.

For Ludhiana, Ayush Maan Jayee was the pick of bowlers, picking up four wickets after giving away 128 runs.

Even, Jalandhar’s first innings could not be completed and the issue remained unresolved thus the two sides shared one point each.

In the next match, slated to be held from April 22 to 24, Ludhiana will take on Bathinda.