Date:07/11/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/11/07/stories/2009110760782000.htm

Sport - Cricket

Gaurav Gambhir comes good for Punjab

Chennai: Debutant Gaurav Gambhir helped Punjab take a point out of its Ranji Trophy Super League group ‘A’ match against Mumbai at Sector 16 Stadium in Chandigarh on Friday with an unbeaten final-day half-century.

The 21-year-old Gambhir walked in with Punjab five down for 164, still 48 short of making Mumbai bat again. He hung in for the next three hours, and played 115 balls in making 50, stroking past the boundary rope five times.

Gambhir added 56 with the experienced Pankaj Dharmani, the two taking Punjab past the innings-defeat mark before medium-pacer Abhishek Nayar bowled Dharmani for 46.

Rahul Sharma gave Gambhir dogged company for the next hour and 10 minutes, facing 67 balls for 22 before becoming Zaheer Khan’s third victim of the innings. The left-armer wasn’t to add any more, as Manpreet Gony clubbed a 32-ball 33 to go with his first-innings 41, to see it through to the end with Gambhir.

Earlier, overnight batsmen Ravi Inder Singh and Uday Kaul took their second-wicket stand to 103, before Dhawal Kulkarni forced Ravi Inder to nick to ‘keeper Vinayak Samant. The first innings centurion made 58 in 101 balls, with nine boundaries.

The scores:

Super League: At Chandigarh: Punjab 259 and 311 for seven in 98 overs (Ravi Inder Singh 58, U. Kaul 62, P. Dharmani 46, Gaurav Gambhir 50 not out) drew with Mumbai 471 for nine decl. Points: Mumbai 3, Punjab 1.

At Vadodara: Delhi 591 drew with Baroda 326 in 99.3 overs (J. Martin 44, R. Solanki 55, Pinal Shah 63, Rajesh Pawar 45, S. Narwal five for 71) and (following on) 233 for four in 66 overs (Azhar Bilakhia 91, R. Solanki 69 not out). Points: Delhi 3, Baroda 1.

At Ahmedabad: Gujarat 270 and 301 for six decl. bt Orissa 192 and 220 in 84.3 overs (P. Mullick 40, Rakesh Mohanty 71 not out). Points: Gujarat 5, Orissa 0.

At Pune: Maharashtra 179 and 319 in 106.5 overs (H. Khadiwale 114, R. Motwani 67, G. Gaikwad 43, Ranadeb Bose five for 57, S. Lahiri four for 87) lost to Bengal 325 and 175 for three in 54.1 overs (Deep Dasgupta 54, W. Saha 59). Points: Bengal 5, Maharashtra 0.

At Meerut: Karnataka 405 and 311 for five decl. bt Uttar Pradesh 279 and 252 in 66.2 overs (M. Kaif 54, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 63, A. Mithun five for 95). Points: Karnataka 5, Uttar Pradesh 0.

At Hyderabad: Hyderabad 328 and 189 in 77 overs (T. Suman 46, A.T. Rayudu 42, S. Qadri 46, A.K. Thakur five for 22) drew with Himachal Pradesh 350 &136 for eight in 41 overs (Bhavin Thakkar 55, Pragyan Ojha five for 52). Points: Himachal Pradesh 3, Hyderabad 1.

Plate: At Guwahati: Rajasthan 228 and 256 bt Assam 189 and 200 in 74 overs (Parvez Aziz 45, Pankaj Singh seven for 64). Points: Rajasthan 5, Assam 0.

At Ranchi: Jharkhand 431 and 167 for three in 46.3 overs (Siddhartha Sinha 76, R. Nemat 44) drew with Tripura 438 in 153.4 overs (Nishit Shetty 104, K. Aphale 47, Rajib Dutta 60, Debabrata Chowdhury 78). Points: Tripura 3, Jharkhand 1.

At Thalassery: Andhra 442 and 46 for no loss in 11 overs drew with Kerala 336 in 145.1 overs (V. Jagadeesh 50, P.R. Prem 91, Vinan Nair 44, G.V.S. Prasad five for 100). Points: Andhra 3, Kerala 1.

At Indore: Haryana 546 and 244 for no loss in 54.2 overs (Rahul Dewan 133 not out, Ankit Rawat 100 not out) drew with Madhya Pradesh 434 in 152.3 overs (Jalaj Saxena 142, H. Kanitkar 72, D. Bundela 44, Sanjay Pandey 46, S. Budhwar four for 116). Points: Haryana 3, Madhya Pradesh 1.

At Nagpur: Goa 474 and 203 for eight decl. in 59.5 overs (S. Bandekar 40, A. Wakhare five for 65) drew with Vidarbha 338 and 83 for one in 26 overs. Points: Goa 3, Vidarbha 1.