da realsbet： Mohali: Punjab dominated day one by scoring 317 for eight in the NorthZone Ranji Trophy four day league match against Himachal Pradesh atthe PCA stadium on Sunday
Rajesh Arora25-Oct-1999Mohali: Punjab dominated day one by scoring 317 for eight in the NorthZone Ranji Trophy four day league match against Himachal Pradesh atthe PCA stadium on Sunday.Vikram Rathore elected to bat first and opened the innings with NavjotSingh Sidhu. But Sidhu (1) fell early, playing a poor hook shot offthe bowling of Shakti Singh to be caught at square leg by SangramSingh. Rathore on 37 achieved a milestone, becoming the first playerfrom Punjab and the 26th batsmen to score 5000 runs in the nationalcricket championship. This was his 101st innings in his 65th match. Hereached this landmark in style when he hit a straight six off JaswantRai. On 44 however Rathore was caught and bowled by Jaswant Rai as hetried to clear mid on.Reetinder Sodhi (79) and Pankaj Dharmani (70) showed their patienceand skill during a 94-run partnership for the third wicket off 161balls. Sodhi’s innings was studded with 10 hits to fence and a sixover mid wicket off Nischal Gaur. Dharmani showed his grace whileplaying the leg glance and square cut as he hit ten boundries. Sodhiwas caught at second slip by Rajiv Nayyar while trying to square drivean away going delivery of Parveen Sharma.Dinesh Mongia (2) became another victim of Parveen Sharma as he wasbowled by a quick delivery which kept very low. The middle orderbatsmen of Punjab did not contribute much and fell to Shakti Singh’saccurate bowling. Tailenders Sarandeep Singh (54) and Navdeep Singh(16) added 59 runs for the unbroken ninth wicket partnership at closeof play.Shakti Singh was the most successful bowler as he claimed four wicketsfor 93 runs. Parveen Sharma captured two wickets by giving away 82runs. Jaswant Rai and Nischal Gaur took a wicket each.