An unbeaten 300 (609b, 34x4, 2x6) by middle-order batsman Taruwar Kohli and his unbeaten 264-run fourth-wicket partnership with Udai Kaul (113 not out, 216b, 9x4) helped Punjab sail into the semifinals of the Ranji Trophy tournament.
It emerged victorious by virtue of a first innings lead of 298 runs against Jharkhand on the final day of the five-day quarterfinal match at Keenan Stadium here on Thursday.
Jharkhand, which had scored 401 in its first innings, was 33 for no loss off 13 overs in its second essay at close after Punjab declared its first innings at 699 for three at the stroke of tea.
Resuming at the overnight score of 435 for three, Kohli and Kaul made a mockery of the Jharkhand bowling attack and scored runs at will.
Punjab will face Saurashtra in the semifinal at Rajkot.
The scores:
Jharkhand — 1st innings: 401.
Punjab — 1st innings: Jiwanjot Singh b Nadeem 131, Ravinder Singh c Vardhan b Nadeem 37, Taruwar Kohli (not out) 300, Mandeep Singh c Jaggi b Vardhan 96, Udai Kaul (not out) 113; Extras (b-6, lb-4, nb-12): 22; Total (for three wkts. in off 229 overs): 699.
Fall of wickets: 1-75, 2-231, 3-435.
Jharkhand bowling: Yadav 16-4-37-0, Rao 26-5-92-0, Nadeem 83-21-193-2, Gupta 66-8-210-0, Varma 2-0-14-0, Vardhan 13-3-40-1, Jaggi 14-1-67-0, Tiwary 9-0-36-0.
Jharkhand — 2nd innings: Ajay Verma (not out) 14, Manish Vardhan (not out) 19; Total (for no loss in 13 overs): 33.
Punjab bowling: Kaul 2-0-9-0, Jiwanjot 2-1-4-0, Gurkeerat 5-1-7-0, Mandeep 4-0-13-0.
