Rajvinder does the star turn

The win has given Punjab an entry to the knockout stage,scheduled to take place in Delhi from March 5. Delhi has topped the table with 24 points while Punjab sits below them with 17. Rajvinder Singh took his tally to 9 wickets in four matches whilst he had been benched as well once. “I am happy that I bowled according to the expectations of the team. The wicket was really slow and the ball was breaking. So my plan was to bowl as slow as possible and let the ball spin sharply off the track. Our captain Harbhajan Singh had adviced me a few things and I am happy to have put that in my bowling,” said an elated Rajvinder.

Vital partnership

Earlier when Punjab opted to bat first on a track that lacked pace and bounce,it proved a good decision to include an extra left-arm spinner. After reeling at 46 for the loss of both openers,Gurkeerat Mann alongside Mandeep Singh steadied Punjab,stitching together 81 runs. In-form Mann started off cautiously to negate the spin and uneven bounce but settled eventually to score freely. His 77-ball knock consisted seven shots to the fence that also included a reverse sweep and a couple of inside-out hits over cover. Mandeep Singh,on the other hand provided him support while relying mainly on ones and twos. Just when Punjab looked to overpower the HP attack,Abhinav Bali castled Mann on 59 to apply the breaks.

The scorecard read 127 for three and Mandeep was the next to depart on 34 when a misdirected pull landed in Vikramjeet Malik’s hand at deep square,off Gurvinder Singh. Bipul Sharma chipped in with 21 and it was not until Taruwar Kohli played a quickfire knock of 31 of 30 balls hitting two towering sixes that Punjab moved along. He alongside Manpreet Gony hit out in the slog overs to bail Punjab out of trouble. Rahul Singh was the most successful of the HP bowlers,scalping three while Rishi Dhawan finished with two.The target for Himachal was 217,and for them to qualify to the knock-out stage,they had to pull a win with a bonus point.

HP were introduced to disappointment very early in their innings when Manpreet Gony sent opener Saransh Thakur packing on 16,with Mandeep Singh pouching a regulation edge at first slip. Manpreet Gony bent his back and generated pace off the track,but was unlucky not to find another edge. Opener Abhinav Bali displayed some grit to deal with the Punjab pace attack while Mukesh Kumar took his time to adjust to the uneven Palam pitch.

Captain’s call

But as soon as Harbhajan Singh brought in Rajvinder,Punjab found a way to put the pressure back on the opponents. The HP decline started in the 17th over when Rajvinder went through Mukesh Kumar’s gate,putting an end to a 33-run stand. Subsequently,Abhinav Bali was decieved by Rajvinder’s flight and scooped a hit straight to Taruwar Kohli at covers for 26. HP were in a spot at 52 for three when their experienced campaigner Paras Dogra joined Prashant Chopra. Rajvinder stuck to his strategy of letting the batsmen do the hardwork,pitching another fuller-length delivery at Dogra. In attempting to tickle it to the on-side,he only managed a leading edge back to Rajvinder for his third wicket. HP failed to learn from Punjab’s innings,as they showed no intent to apply themselves against spin.

Ajay Ratra was the fourth victim of Rajvinder,who was also dismissed courtesy of a leading edge. Harbhajan then had Prashant Chopra stumped with HP slipping to 93 for the loss of six wickets. Rajvinder not only bowled his heart out but took a couple of diving catches too to go with his five-for. Bipul Sharma and Manpreet Gony scalped two each. Rishi Dhawan was the only HP batsmen to keep his cool,hitting seven boundaries and a maximum in his unbeaten 43,albeit in a losing cause.

In another match at the Ferozeshah Kotla between Delhi and Services,debutant Jagrit Anand’s 58 combined with half centuries by Shikhar Dhawan and Punit Bisht,helped the host post a competitive total of 275 against Services. Jagrit Anand claimed two wickets while Pawan Suyal picked up three to bowl Services out for 213.

Brief scores: Punjab 217 for 8 in 50 overs (Gurkeerat Mann 59,Mandeep Singh 34,Taruwar Kohli 31; Rahul Singh 3/38,Rishi Dhawan 2/44); HP 133 all out in 41.5 overs (Rishi Dhawan 43 n.o,Abhinav bali 26; Rajvinder Singh 5/20,Bipul Sharma 2/31,Manpreet Gony 2/23)

Delhi 275 for 7 in 50 overs (Jagrit Anand 58,Shikhar Dhawan 54,Punit Bisht 50; Abhishek Sakuja 2/42,Yashpal singh 2/54); Services (Yashpal Singh 95,Soumyaranjan Swain 42; Pawan Suyal 3/45,Jagrit Anand 2/26)