The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Mongia, Sodhi make merry

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Monday, Feb 13, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

Mongia, Sodhi make merry

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The determination was reflected in Reetender Singh Sodhi doing punishing laps of the Ferozeshah Kotla ground after Punjab had smashed Delhi by six wickets in the North Zone one-day league here on Sunday.

"This is just the kind of attitude that I expect from a cricketer," praised Punjab coach and former Pakistan captain Intikhab Alam as he watched Sodhi, who made an unbeaten 70, run along the boundary with his pads on.

Punjab skipper Dinesh Mongia, cooling himself in the dressing room, soaked in the contest that produced a one-sided verdict, thanks to the combined efforts of the Punjab players.

Mongia missed his century by three runs when he was run out with Punjab four runs short of the target, but Alam did not fail to acknowledge the contributions from the bowlers with V.R.V. Singh coming with a scorching spell and Gagandeep Singh rocking the Delhi camp with his pace.

Bad start

Delhi never recovered from the early blows as Shikhar Dhawan, Aakash Chopra, Abhinav Bali and Puneet Bisht fell cheaply. Chopra was out to a brilliant catch at point by Sarabjeet Singh. Delhi recovered through a 99-run partnership between Mithun Manhas (54 with six fours) and Rajat Bhatia (54 with five fours) but Punjab, in winning its second match, maintained its control over the proceedings through some tight bowling backed up by some outstanding fielding.

Promising medium-pacer Ishant Sharma once again stood out for Delhi as he scalped Ravneet Singh and Sunny Sohal and the cheap dismissal of Pankaj Dharmani reduced Punjab to 41 for three. Mongia took over the reigns and in the company of a determined Sodhi took the game away from Delhi, which lacked a quality fifth bowler.

The elegant Mongia crafted a flawless 97 off 110 balls with ten fours in an innings that stood out for its inspirational value. He guided Sodhi in a match-winning stand of 149 runs that exposed the difference between the teams. Sodhi's excellent knock came off 102 balls with nine fours and two sixes.

"We looked pedestrian. Punjab played better cricket," Delhi coach Madan Lal was blunt but precise. Chopra confessed, "the toss was crucial because the variable bounce caused lot of trouble in the first half."

Big win for Haryana

In other matches, Haryana defeated Himachal Pradesh by 104 runs at the Harbaksh Singh Stadium and Services beat Jammu and Kashmir by 131 runs at the Palam ground. Both the teams earned a bonus point from the victory.

Sumit Sharma (142, 132 balls, 16x4) and Sunny Singh (103, 92 balls, 14x4) batted Haryana into a great position. Himachal Pradesh tried vainly through Sandeep Sharma's 118 of 118 balls with 16 fours.

Yashpal Singh did well to slam 100 off 83 balls with eight fours and two sixes against Jammu and Kashmir, which was rocked by Narender Kumar's spell of five for 29 in a one-sided encounter.

The scores:

Delhi 193 for nine in 50 overs (Mithun Manhas 54, Rajat Bhatia 54) lost to Punjab 195 for four in 42.5 overs (Dinesh Mongia 97, Reetender Singh Sodhi 70 not out).

Haryana 335 for eight in 50 overs (Sumit Sharma 142, Sunny Singh 103) bt Himachal Pradesh 231 for seven in 50 overs (Sandeep Sharma 118).

Services 304 for six in 50 overs (Yashpal Singh 100, Sarabjeet Singh 54, Narender Singh 50) bt J&K 173 for nine in 50 overs (Kanwaljeet Singh 42, Narender Kumar five for 29).

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