(MOREPIC1) Sargun Saroj/Chandigarh
UT boys kicked off their U23 ODI campaign with a winning note by beating Bihar by seven wickets at Trivandrum on Sunday. A splendid bowling attack led by Sahil Kumar and Abhishek Singh followed by half century from Devang Kaushik helped Chandigarh to surpass a meagre challenge of 129 runs in 28th voer.
Earlier, Chandigarh won the toss opted to field first. Anmol drew the first blood in the form of Ankush (12). Later, Ayush and Animesh provided relief to their camp with 46 runs partnership. Nikhil Kumar broke the partnership by catching Animesh Kumar on his own ball with 64/2 on the board.
Thereafter, Bihar failed to control the game and lost its remaining eight wickets in the last 64 runs. Top scorer Ayush (39) was dismissed by Ivraj Ranauta. Rest of the team was consumed by Sahil Kumar (4/15) and Abhishek Singh (3/6) as the team was bundled out for 128 runs in 37.2 overs.
Chandigarh while chasing the target, Gurneet Singh (11) departed early. A 73 runs partnerhsip between Devang Kaushik and Dipendra Kush recovered the initial loss. Kush (26) was bowled by Mohd Izhar leaving the side at 109/2. Izhar again ended the valiant knock of Kaushik (71) as the batter smashed two sixes and eight fours in his stint. Unbeaten duo of Gurtaj Singh Bains (14) and Nikhil (4) brought the team home at the loss of three wickets in 28th over.
Chandigarh is scheduled to play against Sikkim on Dec 17
