Jiwanjot Singh makes life count

After being dropped on 40,Punjab opener scores unbeaten ton,his second of season.

Just after lunch,Delhi were caught napping. Virender Sehwag,standing in the slips,dropped Jiwanjot Singh after Rajat Bhatia had made the batsman edge the ball. Jiwanjot was on 40 and Punjab 72/1.

The 23-year-old went on to score his second century of the season (105*,169b,15×4) and the seventh of his first class career. Punjab,thanks to their opener’s more than four hour stay at the wicket,finished on 177/3. The game had taken an interesting turn. The visitors,who had collapsed to 74 all out in the first innings,were now leading by 102 runs.

Though,Jiwanjot has had a second innings double hundred against Vidarbha earlier in the season,his unbeaten 105 on Monday was a far more significant effort. Why? It came against a quality attack in far tougher conditions. The light sunshine and the heavy roller used by the Punjab team management may have eased the pitch,but plenty off balls still rose terrifically from length.

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Jiwanjot played with caution and constantly changed his game to negate the conditions. He negotiated the moving ball well by judging the line and length early. The right-hander even walked out of the crease,with a good press forward,to ride over the occasional awkward bounce. And while doing all that,he still did not miss the chance punish the bad balls.

After his fellow opener Manan Vohra was out cheaply,Jiwanjot found an able partner in Uday Kaul,who too kept the scoreboard ticking. Jiwanjot’s flawless driving,with his elbow going all the way above the head,was a treat to watch even for the fielders.

His square cut was easy on the eye,straight from the coaching manuals. But when it comes to the on-drive,the opener often tended to be safe rather than stylish. Unlike most batsmen,he doesn’t roll his wrists while playing the balls aimed at his legs but presents the full face of the bat. On Monday,this stroke earned him plenty of runs.

Like Jiwanjot,Kaul too batted defiantly until he was foxed by Sumit Narwal. The Delhi pacer first tested him with a bouncer,bowled from round the stumps,then pitched one up. Kaul ended up edging the ball to the wicketkeeper. Yuvraj Singh,once again failed to fire,as Bhatia trapped him in front of the stumps. At close of play,Mandeep Singh was on 29.

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Brief scores: Punjab 74 all out in 26.4 overs (M Gony 29,M Vohra 16; A Nehra 4/31,P Awana 3/20,R Bhatia 2/4) vs Delhi 46/2 in 16 overs (U Chand batting 21,M Manhas batting 6; M Gony 1/17,S Kaul 1/19)

Services lead

New Delhi: Senior batsman Yashpal Singh scored a timely half-century as Services surged ahead taking a 44-run first innings lead against table toppers Railways in a crucial group B encounter at the Jamia Millia Islamia Stadium.

Having bowled out Railways for 107,Services finished the second day’s play at 151 for eight with Yashpal scoring 67.

The 59-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Soumya Ranjan Swain (32) enabled Services to get past Railways’ first innings score.

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Yashpal played 139 balls hitting eight fours and a six while Swain managed four boundaries in 48 balls.Earlier,Railways lost their last five wickets for only 22 runs as they were bundled out for 107 after being 85 for five overnight. Medium pacer Nishan Singh (5/21) took three out of the last five wickets to end up with career best figures.

When Services batted,they were reduced to 60 for three before Yashpal and Swain took charge. Once Swain was out,later batsmen couldn’t put up much of resistance. Yashpal was gone trying to slog leggie Karn Sharma (3/25). Services will hope to get as many runs as possible in order to make Railways toil in the second innings.

Brief scores: Railways 107 all out in 53.5 overs (Ashish Yadav 19; Nishan Singh 5/21,Irfan Khan 2/14) vs Services 151/8 in 64 overs (Yashpal Singh 67; Karn Sharma 3/25,Anureet Singh 3/44)

14 wicket day in agartala

Fourteen wickets fell on day two as the Ranji Trophy Group C match between Tripura and Andhra Pradesh remained finely balanced.

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Tripura,who began the day at 165 for 9,could only add 14 to that score in five overs to be all out for 179 from 68 overs.

Andhra,however,failed to capitalise on that low score,and lost three quick wickets to stumble to 42 for 3. Bodapati Sumanth led the recovery with 55,but from 116 for 3,the visitors collapsed and were bundled out for 163 to conceded a 16-run first innings lead to Tripura.

Seamer Rana Dutta finished with 5 for 51 his best figures in first-class cricket while Manisankar Murasingh scalped three. When Tripura batted for the second time,Andhra clawed their way back into the game with three early wickets,leaving the hosts at 20 for 3 at stumps today.

Brief scores: Tripura: 179 all out in 68 overs (Tushar Saha 61; Paidikalva Vijaykumar 5/40) and 20 for 3 in 11 overs.Andhra: 163 all out (Bodapati Sumanth 55,Rana Dutta 5/51).