Bhuvaneshwar’s four-wicket haul rocks Punjab
Resuming at 329 for five, Punjab added just 21 runs to their overnight score before being bowled out for 350
Mohali: Nov 4, 2011
Right-arm pacer Bhuvaneshwar Kumar scalped three wickets in an over but missed a hat-trick as Uttar Pradesh made a remarkable comeback to gain upperhand against Punjab at the end of the second day’s play in their Group A Ranji Trophy Elite division match.
Resuming at 329 for five, Punjab added just 21 runs to their overnight score before being bowled out for 350.
Bhuvaneshwar (4/82) cleaned up the Punjab tail with three wickets — Bipul Sharma, Harbhajan Singh and Manpreet Gony — in a space of four balls to bring UP back into the game.
Overnight centurion Mandeep Singh remained stranded on 175 as Punjab’s lower order did very little to help the home team’s cause.
Left-arm pacer R P Singh, who picked up four wickets yesterday, returned with figures of five for 72 while Piyush Chawla (1/75) accounted for the other Punjab batsmen.
In reply, UP were comfortably placed at 221 for three in 66 overs when stumps were drawn at the PCA stadium.
Opener Tanmay Srivastava (62), Mohammad Kaif (65) and Parvinder Singh (57 not out) scored the bulk of runs for UP.
In fact, it was the 121-run second-wicket partnership between Srivastava and Kaif that laid the foundation of UP’s reply before Parvinder took up the responsibility.
Suresh Raina (15 not out) was giving Parvinder company at the crease at stumps.
For Punjab, Gony (1/57) and Navdeep Sidhu (1/45) picked up a wicket each but out-of-favour India spinner Harbhajan, who is also the skipper of the home team, returned wicket-less from the 17 overs he bowled during the day. (PTI)
Brief Scores: Punjab 350 all out (Mandeep Singh 175 not out; RP Singh 5 for 72, Bhuvanesh Kumar 4 for 82) lead UP 221 for three (Mohammad Kaif 65, Tanmay Srivastava 62, Parvinder Singh 57 not out; Navdeep Sidhu 1 for 45) by 129 runs.