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J&K beat Delhi by three wickets

Kawaljeet Singh (66) and Ashwani Gupta (41) put on a 96-run stand for the fourth wicket which enabled Jammu and Kashmir crush Delhi by three wickets in the North Zone pre-Ranji Trophy one-day match at the Ferozeshah Kotla in Delhi today.

Chasing 238 to win, the visitors reached the target in 49.4 overs, losing seven wickets. Sanjay Sharma (11) and Vijay Sharma (7) were the not out batsmen.

Though Jammu and Kashmir lost opener Rohit Matoo (9) very early in a total of 17, Ranjit Bali (36) and Amitpal Singh (29) repaired the damage and added 57 runs for the second wicket.

Fifteen runs later, their third wicket fell on 89. However, Kawaljeet Singh and Ashwani Gupta kept the scoreboard ticking with occasional bursts and frequent singles and twos, to put up the highest partnership - 96 runs for the fourth wicket. Kawaljeet hit a splendid 66 (88m, 73b, 4x4) while Ashwani made 41(52m,45b,2x4).

After their dismissals, Nikhil Chopra looked set to dash their hopes with his turners. However, Sanjay Sharma and Vijay Sharma keep a cool head to see Jammu and Kashmir through.

Chopra returned with four for 38 while Gehlot and Rathore claimed one wicket each.

Earlier in the morning, after being put in to bat, Delhi lost three quick wickets -- Ashu Dani (7), Vijay Dahiya (19) and Neeraj Chawla (0) -- in the space of 38 runs.

Mithun Manhas (90) and skipper Ajay Sharma (63) then batted sensibly to contribute 121 runs for the fourth wicket before the hosts finally managed 237 runs in the stipulated 50 overs.

Vijay Sharma and Surinder Singh took two wickets each while Rakesh Koul and Kawaljeet Singh bagged one each.

Scoreboard
Delhi:
Ashu Dani c R Bali b Vijay Sharma 7
Vijay Dahiya c A Gupta b Rakesh Koul 19
Neeraj Chawla b Vijay Sharma 0
Mithun Manhas c R Bali b Surinder Singh 90
Ajay Sharma c Sanjay Sharma b Kawaljeet Singh 63
Gagan Malik c R Bali b Surinder Singh 20
Nikhil Chopra not out 13
Rajiv Rathore not out 12
Extras: 13
Total: 237 for six in 50 overs
Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-23, 3-38, 4-159, 5-203, 6-212.
Bowling:
Vijay Sharma 10-1-37-2, Surinder Singh 10-2-34-2, Rakesh Koul 5-0-29-1, Kawaljeet Singh 8-0-38-1, Ashwani Gupta 10-0-38-0, Sanjay Sharma 5-0-38-0, Pradeep Bali 2-0-16-0.

Jammu and Kashmir:
Ranjit Bali c Gagan b Chopra 36
Rohit Matoo b Ghelot 9
Amitpal Singh run out 29
Kawaljeet Singh c & b Chopra 66
Ashwani Gupta st Dahiya b Rathore 41
Dhruv Mahajan lbw Chopra 6
Pradeep Bali c & b Chopra 15
Sanjay Sharma not out 11
Vijay Sharma not out 7
Extras: 18
Total: 238 for seven in 49.4 overs
Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-74, 3-89, 4-185, 5-197, 6-211, 7-220
Bowling: Ashish Malhotra 9-1-41-0, Rajesh Gehlot 7-0-23-1, Nikhil Chopra 10-0-38-4, Rajiv Rathore 10-0-36-1, H Chowdhary 6-0-38-0, Ajay Sharma 7.4-0-56-0.

Jaipur: Madhya Pradesh, who need an out right victory over hosts Rajasthan to qualify for the next round, were 109 for 3 at close on the opening day of the four-day Central Zone Ranji Trophy match today.

The match started three hours late following a controversy over damaging the wicket, which indeed needed repairing.

Hosts Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) had yesterday lodged a protest with the match referee saying that the Madhya Pradesh players had intentionally damaged the wicket while fielding during the one-dayer.

Madhya Pradesh skipper Rajesh Chauhan in turn today alleged that the hosts played foul by watering the wicket.

At draw of stumps, prolific scorer J. P.Yadav and Abbas Ali were batting with 34 and 41 runs respectively.

UNI