Date:27/02/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/27/stories/2008022755662200.htm

Sport - Cricket

Aakash Chopra guides Delhi to a thumping victory

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Aakash Chopra built on his excellent form this season with a strokeful century that guided Delhi to a thumping nine-wicket victory over Jammu and Kashmir in the North Zone one-day league cricket match at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Tuesday.

In other matches, Himachal Pradesh beat Services by five wickets at Palam ground while Punjab overcame Haryana by 123 runs at the Harbaksh Singh Stadium.

J&K elected to bat but failed to make most of the advantage as Amit Bhandari (two for 27) and Sumit Narwal (two for 37) made crucial dents but the pick of the bowlers was debutant left-arm spinner Manan Sharma, son of former Test cricketer Ajay Sharma.

Vicious armers

Manan foxed skipper Samiullah Beg and seasoned batsman Vijay Sharma with vicious armers that caught them plumb. “He bowled really well. He was not afraid of flighting the ball. That’s what we want him to do and we are looking towards him to play a bigger role in the future. We played him because we wanted him to get a feel of matches at this level and we don’t want him to feel any pressure,” said coach Vijay Dahiya.

The 16-year-old Manan gushed, “I liked the feeling of playing at this level. I enjoyed my rhythm and remembered Mithun (Manhas) bhaiyya telling me to enjoy my job.”

Chopra took little time to feast his eyes on the white ball after having enjoyed a splendid season with the red cherry. He revelled with some fluent drives and what stood out was the fact that his shots carried the mark of a man in form. He stuck to ground strokes, a quality that has been his strong point.

“I really enjoyed the knock because one had to adapt to limited overs after a long season in the longer version,” said a modest Chopra, who batted 89 balls and hit 13 fours.

Chopra’s knock came after a brilliant effort of 90 not out by Ian Dev Singh as J&K recovered from 30 for four. Dev Singh batted 123 balls and hit nine fours before being stranded ten short of a deserving century.

Left-handed opener Karan Goel was the star performer for Punjab with a 125-ball knock of 122 with 12 fours and four sixes against Haryana.

The scores: J&K 167 for nine in 50 overs (Ian Dev Singh 90 not out) lost to Delhi 170 for one in 27.5 overs (Aakash Chopra 101 not out).

Punjab 297 for eight in 50 overs (Karan Goel 122, Pankaj Dharmani 40) bt Haryana 174 in 44.3 overs (Sumit Sharma 54, Sunny Singh 42).

Services 243 for six in 50 overs (Yashpal Singh 74 not out, Penta Rao 64) lost to HP 247 for five in 46.4 overs (M.S. Bisla 81, Paras Dogra 75).