Despite Aaquib’s deadly bowling, UP on back foot against Punjab

LUCKNOW: Seamer Aaqib Khan bowled his heart out, scalping six wickets for Uttar Pradesh, but it made no difference to Punjab, which managed a thrilling 29-run first innings lead on the second day of their four-day Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy final at Mumbai on Friday.

Aaquib, who had two wickets last evening to leave Punjab struggling at 2/15 after Uttar Pradesh posted just 160 in their first essay, continued to surprise Punjab batsmen even on Friday, at the Wankhade stadium.

He took six wickets for 86 runs in 22 overs, and had almost put Punjab on the floors, leaving them tottering at 8/90, a determined Jaskaranvir Singh Paul shattered UP’s dream of taking first innings lead, hitting 222-ball 84, which contained nine fours.

Before being trapped leg before wicket off Damandeep Singh, Paul along with Anurag Watts added a record 91-run for the ninth-wicket and helped side take a crucial but important 29-run lead. Anurag made 30 in 74 balls with the help of three hits to the fence as Punjab scored 189 in 80.3 overs.

Thrill didn’t stop here on day two as Punjab bowlers, especially Jashan Pannu ripped through UP’s top order in their second innings, leaving the rivals struggling at 3/40 in 19 overs. He had Divyansh Joshi (1) caught by Ridham Satyawan on the very second ball of his first over.

He then had Aanjaneya Suryavanshi (0) caught by Gagan Verma on the very first ball of his second over, before forcing Ashish Chaudhary (1) for a regulation catch to Ridham Satyawan in his fourth over. Skipper Sameer Rizvi (35, 59b, 7x4) and Ansh Yadav (3) were at the crease at draw of stumps on Friday.

Earlier in the day, resuming at the overnight score of 2/15, Punjab batsmen never found the going easy before Aaquib’s bowling. The wickets were tumbling like nine pins from one end, whereas Jaskaranvir was batting patiently at the other end.

A first innings lead looked imminent for nine-time champions Uttar Pradesh after they managed to sent eight Punjab batsmen home on just 90 runs, but Jaskaranvir took his side out of the trouble with a superb knock.

Uttar Pradesh, which have 11 runs lead so far, need to put up a good total in the second innings on the penultimate day on Saturday, and only then they can think of a win against favourites Punjab on the last day of the encounter on Sunday.