Zirakpur, June 12
A truck carrying plastic chairs caught fire at Phabat godown area here this afternoon. A police official stated that truck driver Arvind Kumar, a resident of Alwar, Rajasthan, said he had come from Rajasthan to deliver the stock of plastic chairs at Zirakpur. The moving truck suddenly touched the electric wires and caught fire, the police added.

A passerby immediately called up a fire brigade after seeing smoke coming out of the truck. The fire brigade reached the spot and the fire was brought under control in half-an hour.

Chandigarh, June 12
Chandigarh team won the match against Ropar on the basis of their first innings lead to move into the third round of the Under-19 Inter-District Cricket Tournament for Dhruv Pandove Trophy at the Cricket Stadium, Sector 16, here today.

The Ropar team was able to score only 250 runs at the loss of eight wickets in reply to Chandigarh’s first innings total of 430 for nine. After losing two quick wickets on the score of just 17 runs, Ropar’s Amit Kumar and Manpreet Singh gathered 56 runs for the third wicket.

The Ropar team was in a good position before Amit Kumar (33) gifted a catch on the bowl of Gurinder Singh.

On the other hand, Manpreet Singh in partnership with Gurpreet Singh stitched 108-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Gurinder made a quick fire 67 off 89 studded with 11 boundaries, while Manpreet completed his 101 (not out), despite wickets falling at regular intervals on the other end. For Chandigarh, Veerkaran Goel was the highest wicket taker with three wickets in his pocket.

The host team got two points on the basis of the first innings lead of 180 runs.

In the second match played at Patiala, the host team resuming at their overnight score of 43 for one, lost wickets at regular intervals. Mehjot Sodhi made a quick fire of 62 off 87 balls studded with four fours and four sixes.

On the other hand, Mohali in their second innings was 58 for one in 31 overs at the end of the play. From Mohali, Ankit Pursharthy knocked 24 (not out), Mohali won the match on the basis of the first innings lead of 78 runs and got two points.

In the third match between Bathinda and Ludhiana played at Ludhiana, the host team won the match by 29 runs.

In the fourth match played at the Burlton Park, Jalandhar, the hosts chasing Amritsar’s total of 360 for eight was bowled out for 281 in 90.4 overs, despite a brilliant knock of 120 runs by Love Kumar. Amritsar won the match by virtue of their 79-run lead in the first innings and got two points.

Brief scores (Match I):

Chandigarh (1st innings): 430 for 9 (Jaskaran Singh 211, Gurinder Singh 67, Vishal Thind 48 n.o, Naveen Dhiman 32, Manan Vohra 25, Avneep Saini 2 for 51, Sukhvinder Singh 2 for 84 and Arjun Kumar 2 for 114).

Ropar (1st innings): 250 for 8 (Manpreet Singh 101 n.o, Gurpreet Singh 67, Amit Kumar 33, Veerkaran Goel 3 for 77, Gurinder Singh 2 for 66 and Rajpal Singh 2 for 55).

Brief scores (Match II):

Mohali (1st innings): 271.

Patiala (1st innings): 193 in 68.1 overs (Mehjot Sodhi 62, Vinay Goraba 44, Sohrab 5 for 52 and Birkanwar Singh 3 for 54).

Mohali (2nd innings): 58 for 1 at close of play.

Brief scores (Match III):

Ludhiana (1st innings): 185 all out in 66.5 overs.

Bathinda (1st innings): 156 all out in 58 overs (Harjit Singh 36, Mahavir 28, Sangram 22, Dhruv 20, Amritpal Singh 5 for 73 and Abhishek Talwar 2 for 16).

Ludhiana (2nd innings): 94 for 4 in 46 overs (Sunny Pandey 21, Akhil Aggarwal 19, Abhinav Bhatia 18 not out, Gurinder Hara 18, Sangram 2 for 46, Akshay 1 for 4 and Sukhminder 1 for 4).

Brief scores (Match IV):

Amritsar (Ist innings): 360 for 8 in 95 overs.

Jalandhar: 281 all out in 90.4 overs (Love Kumar 120, Himanshu 42, Siddharth 28, Vinay Chaudhary 4 for 95 and Sunny Singh 2 for 48).

Chandigarh, June 12
Local lad Rahul Kumar is on cloud nine for he has made it to the country’s most prestigious football club, Mohun Bagan. Rahul, a defender, has signed a year’s contract for Rs 15 lakh with the Kolkata club. Rahul has represented Chandigarh six times in national tournaments. He has also represented Punjab and Maharashtra in Santosh Trophy.

Before joining Mohun Bagan, Rahul had been associated with Pune Football Club for three years.

An elated Rahul said: “Undoubtedly, it’s (signing contract with Mohun Bagan) an achievement but I have a long way to go. I think I have got an appropriate platform from where I can don the national colours, which is my ultimate goal.”

Rahul is currently in the city and will join the club in the last week of this month. 

Panchkula, June 12
CISF and 3BRD Air Force are set to clash in the final of the Senior Chandigarh State Hockey Championship to be held at the Hockey Stadium, Sector 18, on June 13.

In the first semifinal between ITBP and 3BRD Air Force, both teams displayed brilliant stickwork and tried to attack their opponents. However, they failed to score and the match remained goalless till the end of the first half. However, a solitary goal by Kujur in the 57th minute of the second half for the 3BRD AIR Force was enough to settle the tie.

In the second semifinal between CISF and Rock Rovers, CISF took the lead in the fourth minute with Sanjeet scoring through penalty corner.

The Rock Rovers players also displayed better stickwork but tried unsuccessfully to level the score in the first half.

In the second half, Rock Rovers were able to level the score in the 51st minute, as Yogesh sounded the board.

However, CISF team played an attacking game and again took the lead in the 55th minute with Gurjeet scoring the second goal for his team. CISF won the match 2-1.

The final match between CISF and 3BRD Air Force will be played at the same venue at 5 pm.

Panchkula, June 12
Chennai Champions lifted the trophy of Premier Cricket League, thrashing the host team Haryana Bulls by nine wickets at Tau Devi Lal Cricket Stadium, Sector 3, here today.

After winning the toss, Chennai team put their rivals in to bat first. Haryana team put on 170 runs, losing three wickets in the course in the allotted 20 overs.

Dharminder Phagna (63 not out off 49) and Pankaj Joshi (60 off 33) were the main contributors.

For Chennai Champions, Faiz Mohammad claimed two wickets for 36 runs in four overs.

In reply, Chennai team overhauled the target in 18.4 overs. Saurabh Tiwari’s 71-run knock guided the team hit 174 for 1.

During his innings, Tiwari slammed seven boundaries and five sixes.

After his wicket, Tarun and Rajesh Patha made 55 runs and 38 runs, respectively, to win the match and the title for their team.

The organisers claimed that Chennai Champions were given Rs 1 crore and Haryana Rs 50 lakh as the first and runners-up award.

Neeraj Sharma was declared the best bowler of the series, while Anshul Lamba was declared the best batsman of the series. Gurinder Saini was declared man of the series.

Brief score: Haryana Bulls: 170 for 3 in 20 overs (Dharminder Phagna 63 n.o, Pankaj Joshi 60, Gurinder Saini 33; Faiz Mohammad 2 for 36, Khalid 1 for 16).

Chennai Champions: 174 runs for 1 in 18.5 overs (Saurabh Tiwari 71, Rajesh Patha 55 n.o, Tarun Kumar 38, Gurinder Saini 1 for 23).

Patiala, June 12
Multipurpose, Patiala, defeated DMW, Patiala, by 11 runs in the final of the U-16 DMW Cricket Cup at DMW Cricket Ground here yesterday.

Multipurpose lads won the toss and elected to bat first. They scored 155 runs in 34 overs before being bowled out. Sagar Kumar (55 not out) was the highest scorer for Multipurpose.

He was well supported by Anmolpreet Singh (37).

Bhupinder Singh was the pick of the bowlers, claiming four wickets for 39 runs in seven overs. Rahul Gothwal scalped two for 19 runs.

In reply, the hosts scored 144 runs after losing nine wickets in 35 overs.

Anmol Malhotra (29) was the highest scorer. He was supported by Sanveer Singh (28) and Harish Kamal (21).

Sahil Gupta was the pick of the bowlers for Multipurpose. He took three wickets for 14 runs. He was supported by Sukhwinder who took two wickets for 26 runs and Amit who claimed two wickets for 16 runs.

MK Podhar, CVO, was the chief guest of the tournament. He gave away the prizes to the winners. Anurag Gupta, secretary sports, Neeraj Kumar, JC Laskara were also present.

Sagar Kumar claimed the man of the match trophy, while Anmolpreet Singh got the best batsman trophy. Bhupinder Singh turned out to be the best bowler, while Anmol Malhotra emerged as the man of the series. Rahul Gothwal claimed the best upcoming player trophy.