Face2Nes/Chandigarh
UT boys registered their third consecutive win at the ongoing Under 23 ODI tournament being played in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.
Centurion Deepander Kush scored the final run on the last ball and helped Chandigarh to snatch three wickets against Rajasthan. Earlier, Chandigarh won the toss and invited Rajasthan to bat first. After losing three wickets for just 16 runs, the team struggled at the rate of nearly three runs per over for the first 25 overs. Cenutrian Ayush Ameriya stabilized the situation.
Ameriya made two important half-century partnerships with skipper Karan Lamba (30) and M Chaudhary (38) to take the team to a respectable score of 257/7. Ameriya scored 106 runs off 137 balls by hitting nine fours and three sixes. Neel (4/70) was the most successful bowler while Jaskirat Singh (2/37) and Ivraj Ranauta (2/42) took two wickets each.
In reply, Chandigarh got off to a poor start against opposition bowler Mahendra Mahla (3/51) with 46/4 on the board. Deepender Kush rescued the team with a partnership of 47 runs with skipper Akshit Rana who departed after scoring 29 runs. Kush kept the front for another vital partnership of 84 runs with Abhishek Singh took the team to 177. Abhishek returned after scoring 45 runs. Kush continued to hold the fort and joined Neel for another valuable partnership of 36 runs off 41 balls and took the team closer to the target.
When Neel (14) left, Jaskirat Singh took the match to the last ball by smashing quickfire 29 runs off 18 balls. Kush won the match by hitting the winning shot on the last ball. Kush scored 100 runs off 138 balls with the help of seven fours and one six. The team's next match is against Assam on December 21.
