HimVani
Shimla: Himachal (under 14) cricket team has entered the finals of the Dhruv Pandove Memorial cricket championship being held in Delhi. The championship started on November 20 and saw the participation of teams from Delhi, J&k, Haryana, Punjab and Himachal. The championship was in league format where all the teams played against each other and Himachal made it to the finals by beating more fancied teams like Haryana and Punjab. In the first match HP played against J & K in which Himachal scored 394 all out. Abhimanyu Singha made a spectacular 180 in the 1st. innings, which is so far the highest score in the tournament. J&k could only manage 296 and by virtue of the 1st. innings lead Himachal got 2 bonus points.
In the second match HP played against Haryana in which HP scored 118 all out. Anirudh made a spectacular 47 in the 1st. innings, which proved the highest score in the innings. Haryana could only manage 59 and the importance and by of Anirudh’s innings came to the fore. By virtue of the 1st. innings lead Himachal got another 2 bonus points. In the third match HP played against host Delhi. The host batting first scored 257 and HP could manage only 139/9 in the allotted 95 overs. Anirudh again top scored with 34 in the first innings, while Chahat gave a good all round display with scoring 20 not out valuable runs and taking six wickets. By virtue of the first innings lead of Delhi Himachal lost two valuable bonus points to the hosts who were now leading the league. In the fourth match Himachal played against the formidable Punjab. The Punjab team batting first could manage only 110. Nitin took 4 valuable wickets for 45 runs while Sugam took 3 wickets while giving away 21 runs. HP replied strongly with 261 all out. Abhimanyu again top scored with 69 and Nitin chipped in with a valuable 63 runs giving a solid all round performance. In the 2nd. innings Punjab could muster only 88 runs against a hostile attack led by Chahat who took 7 wickets for 18 runs and Sugam who took the remaining 3 wickets for 18 runs. Himachal team thus defeated the strong team of Punjab by an innings and 63 runs. Himachal got four valuable bonus points and hence qualified for finals and will play against Dehi on December 5 and 6.
