Medium-pacer Arup Das (six for 82) scythed through the Punjab line-up here on Friday to take Assam within touching distance of its maiden entry into the semifinals of the Ranji Trophy.
At stumps on the third day of the quarterfinal at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Stadium here, Punjab was 224 for eight in pursuit of 288. Gitansh Khera (35 batting, 99, 3x4) and Barinder Singh Sran (8 batting, 9b, 1x6) were at the crease. The Harbhajan Singh-led side, which batted with flair but not enough application, is 64 runs away from an unlikely win.
Assam, which began the day at 23 for four in its second innings, was bowled out for 101 thanks to an inspired performance from Sran (five for 43) and Siddarth Kaul (four for 25), who finished with eight wickets in the match.
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Later, bowling with purpose with the afternoon sea breeze helping his cause, Das produced an amazing spell to remove Jiwanjot Singh and Uday Kaul off consecutive deliveries. He followed it up with the scalp of Pargat Singh to reduce Punjab to 25 for three in the 10th over.
Punjab fought its way back into the contest with a 70-run stand between Mandeep Singh (29, 52b, 4x4) and Gurkeerat Singh Mann (64, 55, 12x4), but both batsmen committed hara-kiri by gifting their wickets to Dhiraj Goswami (two for 38).
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At 133 for five, Punjab needed another partnership of substance. Mayank Sidhana, who was stranded on 80 in the first essay, joined hands with Khera for nearly 20 overs. However, Das returned to break the 55-run partnership in emphatic fashion by getting Sidhana to play a cavalier cut, the edge of which landed in the slips.
The scores:
Assam — 1st innings: 323.
Punjab — 1st innings: 137.
Assam — 2nd innings: Pallav Kumar Das c Khera b Siddarth Kaul 0, Rahul Hazarika c Khera b Bansal 18, Gokul Sharma c Khera b Sran 8, Amit Verma b Sran 4, K.B. Arun Karthik lbw b Sran 0, Amit Sinha c Khera b Sran 3, J. Syed Mohammed lbw b Siddarth Kaul 10, Tarjinder Singh b Siddarth Kaul 0, Dhiraj Goswami c Khera b Sran 14, Arup Das b Siddarth Kaul 31, Krishna Das (not out) 6; Extras (lb-1, b-2, wd-2, nb-2): 7; Total (in 35.5 overs) 101.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-9, 3-13, 4-13, 5-34, 6-36, 7-46, 8-53, 9-78.
Punjab bowling: Siddarth Kaul 11.5-6-25-4, Barinder Singh Sran 15-3-43-5, Deepak Bansal 9-5-30-1.
Punjab — 2nd innings: Jiwanjot Singh c Karthik b Arup 9, Pargat Singh c Pallav b Arup 16, Uday Kaul c Karthik b Arup 0, Mandeep Singh c Pallav b Goswami 29, Gurkeerat Mann c Gokul b Goswami 64, Mayank Sidhana c Gokul b Arup 43, Gitansh Khera (batting) 35, Harbhajan Singh c Verma b Arup 8, Siddarth Kaul c Karthik b Arup 10, Barinder Sran (batting) 8; Extras (lb-2): 2; Total (for eight wkts. in 60 overs): 224.
Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-25, 3-26, 4-96, 5-133, 6-189, 7-197, 8-211.
Assam bowling: Krishna Das 22-4-62-0, Arup Das 20-2-82-6, Goswami 10-2-38-2, Pallav Kumar Das 7-1-29-0, Verma 1-0-11-0.