Himanshu, Shobha hit centuries

LUCKNOW : Lucknow lad Himanshu Asnora struck yet another century this season to help former champions Uttar Pradesh take a vital 54-run first innings lead against Madhya Pradesh on the penultimate day of their four-day Plate Group B Under-23 Col CK Nayudu Trophy match at Rewa on Sunday.

Asnora, who had a century in the last game, exploited the conditions well while resuming at the overnight score of 14, and hit 254-ball 112, which contained 13 boundaries and two sixes. Other overnight batsman Madhav Kaushik too went on scoring a century as UP finished their first innings at 449 while chasing MP’s first innings total of 395.

Both Asnora and Kaushik stitched together 108-run for the third wicket. The moment Kaushik departed from one end the wickets started falling like nine pins and barring Sandeep (16) and Vineet (18) no other batsman could reach the double figure mark.

Aryaman Vikram Birla and Kuldeep Sen bowled superbly for MP, bagging five and four wickets, respectively. In reply, MP were one for no loss in two overs in their second innings. Sagar Solanki (1) and Ajay Rohera (0) were at the crease at the draw of stumps.

FINE KNOCK

It was yet another great day for Uttar Pradesh as Shobha Devi slammed an unbeaten century to help hosts UP crush Vidarbha by 255 runs in their Central Zone under-19 women’s one-day league, at the Kamla Club ground in Kanpur on Sunday. This was UP’s second win in as many as matches so far.

Shobha struck 113 in 88 balls with the help of 14 hits to the fence as UP piled up 364/3 in 50 overs while batting first after winning the toss. Openers Muskan Malik (67, 58b, 12x4) and Ekta Bisht (69, 93b, 8x4) gave a sound start to the home side. Later, Tanu Kala (45, 47b, 4x4) and Kashame (19) too played good knocks.

In reply, Vidarbha after losing first wicket in the fourth over, could never control the down fall and could make 109/8 in 50 overs. Opener L Inamdar (34, 70b, 6x4) and M Bodke (18) could cross the double figure mark. For UP, Rishika Yadav and Kshama shared four wickets between them.