Mohit, Purnank put UP on top
LUCKNOW: Seamers Mohit Jangra and Purnank Tyagi bowled fine spells along with Shivam Sharma to fashion Uttar Pradesh’s fascinating eight-wicket win against Vidarbha to top the table with 36 points in the Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy at Muzzafarnagar on Wednesday.
Mohit took 3/42, Purnank had 3/55, whereas Shivam bagged 3/53 as Vidarbha could make 220 in 66.5 overs in their second innings, setting a small target of 152 for hosts to win the match even on the penultimate day of the four-day Elite Group A encounter.
Vidarbha, which conceded 69-run first innings lead after scoring just 177 runs in the first essay, never got the going easy on Wednesday while resuming at the overnight score of 113/2 in their second innings. They kept losing wickets on regular intervals as both Mohit and Purnank kept haunting the visitors with their speed and swings, at the Choudhary Charan Singh Sports Stadium. Mohit, who had 6/40 in the first innings, had Sanket Khedkar (2), Bhute (5) and Rohit Dattatraya (4), whereas Purnank accounted for YV Rathod (15), Sandesh D (10) and Mandar Mahale, who scored highest 61 in 166 balls with the help of nine hits to the fence.
A Mokhade remained the other key batsman, who scored 103-ball 52 with the help of eight boundaries before being caught by Aryan Sharma off Suryakant Chauhan. Slow bowler Rishav Rai bowled Harsh Dubey (21).
Uttar Pradesh too didn’t get a good start in the second innings, losing opener Rishav Rai (5) in the fourth over, but it didn’t make a difference to Aryan Sharma (78*, 162b, 10x4, 3x6) and Ansh Yadav (27), who stitched together 70-run for the second wicket, before Aryna completing the formality in 52.2 overs along with Dhruv Chand Jurel, who also remained unbeaten on 39, which came off 51 balls with the help of five fours.
Now, Uttar Pradesh, which scored their fifth win in as many as six matches so far, travel to Pune to take on hosts Maharashtra in their seventh round tie, starting January 14.