Punjab-Mumbai match ends in draw

Mohali, Dec 12 (UNI) The four-day Super League Group B Ranji Trophy match between Punjab and Mumbai fizzled out into a tame draw at the PCA stadium here today.

The hosts, by virtue of their slender first-innings lead of five runs, obtained two points, bringing their total to four from three outings. Mumbai have played two matches so far and have yet to gain a point.

Mumbai failed to overtake Punjab's first innings total of 353 as they were dismissed for 348 (overnight 272 for 6). Amol Mazumdar played a captain's innings of 119 which, however, went in vain as Mumbai fell short by just five runs.

Resuming at his overnight score of 86, Mazumdar went on to complete his century (119, 9x4s, 307 balls, 493 minutes). He was the last Mumbai batsman to be dismissed at the total of 348 in 131.5 overs.

Mazumdar hit a straight shot and bowler Amanpreet Singh just guided the ball with his hand into the stumps to take the prized wicket. Mumbai innings ended at 348 after lunch.

Mazumdar was playing his 81st match and 117th innings to compile his 15th century of his career in first class cricket. His highest score is 205 against Haryana in Faridabad on his debut in 1993-94.

Playing his first Ranji Trophy match, medium pacer Amanpreet Singh made an impressive beginning by capturing four wickets for 72 runs from 35.5 overs. Ishan Malhotra also bagged four wickets for 91 runs in 31 overs.

With Punjab taking the crucial first-innings lead, only academic interest was left in the match. Punjab, in their second innings, made 113 for three in 48 overs. Uday Kaul (23) and Amit Uniyal (35) remained not out.

Openers Ravneet Ricky (10) and Karan Goel (16) and Gourav Gupta (17) were the Punjab batsmen who were dismissed in the second innings. S Hazare and Wilkin Mota got one wicket each for 15 and 30 runs, respectively.

Scoreboard: Punjab (Ist innings): 353. Mumbai (Ist innings, overnight 272 for 6): Sahil Kukreja c Dharmani b Ishan Malhatra 43 Vinayak c Gourav Gupta b Amanpreet Singh 20 Bhavin Thakkar c Uday Kaul b Amit Uniyal 5 Amol Muzumdar run out (Amanpreet Singh) 119 Rohit Sharma c Ricky b Amanpreet Singh 22 Ramesh Powar c Dharmani b Amanpreet Singh 2 Wilkin Mota c Dharmani b Ishan Malhotra 74 VR Samant c Dharmani b Ishan Malhotra 14 Nilesh Kulkarni c Dharmani b Amanpreet Singh 5 SP Hazare c Gourav Gupta b Ishan Malhotra 0 M Mungela not out 23 Extras (lb 12, w 2, nb 7) 21 Total (all out; 131.5 overs) 348 Fall of wickets: 1-39, 2-56, 3-85, 4-135, 5-139, 6-272, 7-292, 8-301, 9-302,10-348.

Bowling Gagandeep Singh 24-6-54-0 Amit Uniyal 27- 5-70-1 Ishan Malhatra 31-5-91- 4 Amanpreet Singh 35.5-10-72-4 Rajesh Sharma 10-1-37-0 Dinesh Mongia 4-1- 2-0. Punjab (2nd innings): Ravneet Ricky lbw S Hazare 10 Karan Goel c Vinayak Mane b Wilkin Mota 16 Gourav Gupta run out (Ramesh Powar) 17 Uday Kaul not out 23 Amit Uniyal not out 35 Extras (nb 6, w 5, lb 1) 12 Total (for three wickets, 48 overs) 113 Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-45, 3-56.

Bowling S Hazare 9-5-15-1 M Mangela 9-0-25-0 Wilkin Mota 10-2-30-1 R Powar 12-3-21-0 Rohit Sharma 3-1-5-0 Bhavin Thakkar 2-0-2-0 Nilesh Kulkarni 3-0-14-0.

Points: Punjab 2. Mumbai 0.

UNI