Poor batting costs Chandigarh Vijay Hazare opener

CHANDIGARH: Chandigarh skipper Manan Vohra’s cracking 56 off 69 balls went in vain after the UT side went down to Kerala by 6 wickets in their Vijay Hazare Group D opener in Rajkot on Wednesday.


Put in to bat, the Chandigarh top order, barring Manan, looked out of sorts and as a result kept losing wickets at regular intervals. At one point, it appeared the UT side would find it difficult to get to the triple digits, but Manan held one end with a subdued knock that was laced with four boundaries and a couple of sixes.

Most of the Chandigarh middle order batters got to starts but seemed to be in a rush to get back to the dressing room, until Arpit Pannu (25 not out) and tail-ender Sandeep Sharma (26 not out) joined hands for a 46-run unbroken stand to take the side to 184 for 8 at the end of their 50 overs.

For Kerala, Sijomon Joseph was the pick of the bowlers with three scalps, while Basil Thampi returned with a couple of wickets.

In reply, Kerala rode on a classy unbeaten 59 off 78 balls, laced with three boundaries and two sixes from Sachin Baby, and opener Rohan Kunnummal’s 59-ball 46, comprising six boundaries, to romp home with 96 balls remaining. Skipper Sanju Samson (24) and Vishnu Vinod (32) also came up with useful contributions.

For the Chandigarh team, Jagjit Singh,

Yuvraj Chaudhary

, Jaskaran Singh and Arpit Pannu picked one scalp each.

Brief Scores
Chandigarh: 184/8 in 50 overs (Manan Vohra 56; Sijomon Joseph 3/44, Basil Thampi 2/31) lost to Kerala: 185/4 in 34 overs (Sachin Baby 59 not out, Rohan Kunnumamal 46) by six wickets.