Punjab rallied from a seemingly hopeless situation to record a thrilling one-run win over Assam in the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day cricket tournament Group A match here on Monday.
Earlier, powered by a brilliant century by Mandeep Singh (117 not out, 97b, 12x4, 3x6) and breezy knocks by Pargat Singh (69, 75b, 6x4, 3x6) and Gurkeerat Mann (62, 36b, 7x4, 3x6) Punjab scored what looked to be a very challenging total of 327 for four on a wicket which delighted the teams for being a “wonderful one-day wicket”.
At the start Mandeep preferred to play second fiddle when Pargat Singh was playing strokes all around the wicket with ease.
Yuvraj too showed flashes of his batting prowess carting two huge sixes off slow bowler Amit Verma before being surprised by extra bounce from the same bowler. Then, Mandeep and Gurkeerat’s partnership enabled Punjab post a 300-plus total. The two put on a century stand during which Mandeep completed his century.
When the chase began, Assam was rattled by Punjab’s best medium-pacer Siddarth Kaul, who struck early twice, and the score read 15 for two in the third over with opener Pallav Kumar Das (1) and K.B. Arun Karthick (0) back in the pavilion.
From then onwards, it was a Swarupam Purkayastha (125, 112b, 18x4, 1x6) show all the way. He played a brilliant innings which almost saw Assam clinch the game.
First, he put on 124 runs for the third wicket with southpaw Amit Verma (71, 67b, 12x4, 1x6) and then added 107 runs with Gokul Sharma (60, 55b, 5x4, 2x6) for the fourth wicket.
Just when he looked good enough to see his side through, Swarupam holed out to Siddarth Kaul in the deep with the score reading 246 for four in the 39th over.
If Punjab thought Swarupam’s dismissal was enough for it to wrap up the match, it was surprised by the belligerence of Gokul Sharma, who also treated the bowlers with disdain.
However, Punjab’s experience, led by India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh in the final overs, saw it deny Assam victory.
The scores: Punjab 327 for four in 50 overs (Jiwanjot Singh 32, Pargat Singh 69, Mandeep Singh 117 not out, Yuvraj Singh 36, Gurkeerat Mann 62) bt Assam 326 for eight in 50 overs (Swarupam Purkayastha 125, Amit Verma 71, Gokul Sharma 60, Siddarth Kaul three for 74).
Services 192 for eight in 50 overs (Mumtaz Qadir 31, Yashpal Singh 56 not out, S.R. Swain 30, M. Mohammed five for 50) lost to Tamil Nadu 193 for three in 39.4 overs (Abhinav Mukund 85, B. Aparajith 66 not out, D.G. Pathania three for 41).
Rajasthan 250 for eight in 50 overs (D.H. Yanik 34, M.N. Singh 51, R.P. Yadav 47, Ashok Menaria 55, Ravi Kiran four for 57) bt Hyderabad 148 in 39 overs (G.H. Vihari 39, T.M. Haq four for 44).
