After Chandigarh bowlers restricted Jalandhar to a modest total, it was left to the batsmen to do the needful. Sarul Kanwar rose to the occasion and struck a hurricane century (183 off 140 balls) to steer Chandigarh win the final after registering a huge nine-wicket win over Jalandhar in the Punjab Inter-district Cricket Tournament for Katoch Shield at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Wednesday.
Resuming from their overnight score of 42 for no loss, Sarul Kanwar who was unbeaten on 38, continued in similar fashion that had made him the prolific scorer in the tournament. After hitting three centuries in the tournament, Sarul added one more to his kitty after he blasted a whirlwind century to take Chandigarh to safety. His century was laced with 30 well truck boundaries and four towering sixes at an astounding strike rate of 130.71. Sarul Kanwar's domination over the Jalandhar bowling was so complete that he treated both spinners and medium pacers with utter disdain by dispatching them to all parts of the ground which left the fielders dazed and as hapless spectators.
The opener was involved in a mammoth 243-run partnership for the first wicket with fellow opener Simrat Bawa. The fact that they took just 40.3 overs to stitch their partnership speak volume of opposition bowlers' helplessness to contain them. Just when it seemed that Sarul was heading towards a double century, he went for a defensive shot off the bowling of Yogesh Kumar and the ball took a leading edge which wicketkeeper Abhishek accepted gladly.
Meanwhile, southpaw Simrat Bawa completed his half century (65) which he made with the help of nine boundaries. Amit Prashar, who joined him at the crease after the fall of Sarul Kanwar, remained unbeaten till the end after making eight runs. Earlier, on Tuesday, after conceding a vital 34-run lead to Jalandhar in their first innings, Chandigarh restricted Jalandhar to a meagre total of 219 in 85.1 overs, thereby needing 254 to win in 102 overs.
Starting the innings with the centurion of first innings Satpal and Pargat Singh, Jalandhar lost their first wicket at 21 when Pargat Singh gave a simple catch to wicket-keeper Simrat Bawa off the bowling of Satnam Singh. Left-arm spinner Rahul Chara dealt a big blow to the fortune of Jalandhar team when he claimed the wicket of Satpal at an individual score of 20 runs and Jalandhar scorecard reading 36 for 2.
Sarul Kanwar, who accumulated 746 runs in the tournament, became the highest run at an astounding average of 106.57 while Amit Prashar came second after making 691 at an average of 136.20. Taruwar Kohli of Jalandhar came third with a total of 646 runs at an average of 107.76.
Rahul Sharma became the leading wicket taker of the tournament after picking up 25 wickets at an average of 26.20. Chandigarh's Rahul Chara came second with 18 wickets into his kitty at an average of 34.94 while Lakshay Seth of Amritsar took 17 wickets at an average of 29.64 and secured the third spot.
Brief score:
Jalandhar (1st innings): 434 all out; Chandigarh (1st innings): 400 all out; Jalandhar (2nd innings): 219 all out; Chandigarh (2nd innings): 254 for 1 (Sarul Kanwar 183, Simrat Bawa 65 no, Amit Prashar 8 no).
39 players to attend preparatory camp
As many as 39 players have been selected by Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) selectors for the preparatory and conditioning camp starting from July 1 to July 20 for the upcoming Ranji season. The selection committee of PCA headed by Chaman Lal Malhotra met on Wednesday to discuss about the probables and decided about the players who will attend the camp.
The issue of the induction of the players from ICL except Dinesh Mongia, who has yet to be given clearance by BCCI, were discussed during the selection committee meeting It was also decided that players who had played in IPL and had not attended the first fitness camp or could not play in the Katoch Shield because of injury would have to prove their fitness by reporting to the team physio, who will assess them as per the physical fitness standards laid down by the association.
The following players are required to report to PCA Stadium by July 30 : Manpreet Gony, Jaskaran Singh, Harmeet Bansal, Deepak Bansal, Bharat Loomba, Hardevinder Singh, Amrinder Sodhi, Love Ablish, Mohit Mohindra, Sarabjit Singh Ladda, Rahul Venkey, Varun Khanna, Lakshay Seth, Rajwinder Golu, Ankur Jund, Krishan Kumar, Karan Goel, Ravi Inder Singh, Sunny Sohal, Sat Pal, Sarul Kanwar, Vishwas Bhalla, Sarabjit Singh, Chandan Madan, Uday Kaul, Mayank Siddana, Pankaj Dharmani, Ankur Kakkar, Taruwar Kohli, Gurkirat Singh Ahluwalia, Amit Prashar, Robin Singh, Sharad Loomba, Himanshu Chawla, Kunwar Raina, Gaurav Marwaha, Manish Bhatia, Saurab Kumar, Pargat Singh.
