Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 2: Magnificent 9th-wicket partnership of 116 runs between Junaid Farooq (60) and Umar Majeed (76) salvaged the sinking ship as Jammu and Kashmir managed to score 228 runs in 58.2 overs after struggling at 102/8 at one stage in the first innings against Himachal Pradesh in the ongoing Cooch Behar Under-19 Boys Cricket Tournament at Atal Behari Vajpayee Stadium, Amtar in Himachal Pradesh.
In reply, Himachal Pradesh were comfortably placed at 141/0 at stumps on day-1 today. Openers Mohd Arslan Z Khan and Karmanya Verma R Verma were unbeaten on 77 and 53 runs respectively when the stumps were drawn today. Arslan took 109 balls to score 77 runs, hitting 12 magnificent boundaries, while Karmanya scored 53 off 81 balls, hitting 6 delectable boundaries. Himachal Pradesh now trail by 87 runs with all their wickets in hand.
Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir skipper Qamran Iqbal won the toss and decided to bat first. Batting first, J&K lost two early wickets in the former of Qamran Iqbal (1) and Jiyaad Magray (9) at the innings total of 17 runs in 5.1 overs, which were followed by the wickets of Eshan Saraf (0) and Sahil Lotra (11) at the innings total of 63/4 in 24 overs. Then, Himachal Pradesh bowlers AS Jamwal and AA Walia wrecked havoc by taking wicket numbers 5, 6 and 7 at the same score of 91 runs in shape of Tahsin Dar (19), Vivrant Sharma (47) and Jaaid Ahmed (0). The 8th wicket fell in the shape of Aryan Dogra (1). Vivrant took 70 balls to score 47 runs, studded with 8 fours and 1 six. However, it was the duo of Junaid and Umar who consolidated the innings and took the score past 200-run mark. Umar scored 76 off 88 balls with the help of 7 boundaries and 4 towering sixes, while Junaid contributed 60 off 61 balls, studded with 6 fours and 2 massive sixes.
From Himachal Pradesh, AS Jamwal was the pick of the bowlers, who took 5 important wickets by conceding 107 runs in 29.2 overs, while AS Walia bagged 3 wickets by giving away 76 runs off his 15 overs. PG Kashyap and Devrat Bikhta shared 1 wicket each.
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