J&K’s Dhruv, Jeevesh blossom in a drawn match against U’khand

Jeevesh Gupta Dhruv Sharma
Jeevesh Gupta Dhruv Sharma

Vijay Merchant Trophy

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 3: Right-hand middle-order batsman Dhruv Sharma slammed a magnificent century after scoring splendid half-century in the first innings, while left-arm spinner Jeevesh Gupta spun web around the rival batsmen and took 5-wicket haul in the second innings after taking 4 wickets in the first innings as U-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy match between J&K and Uttarakhand ended in a thrilling draw at Shaheed Veer International Stadium, Raipur today.
On Day-3 today, resuming from an overnight score of 97/5, J&K rode on a brilliant century by Dhruv Sharma and managed to score 210 runs in their second essay, thus setting a target of 140 runs for the rivals as had scored 238 runs in the first innings against J&K’s 170. Dhruv scored 107 runs studded with 18 delectable boundaries. He once again showed composure and promise.
For Uttarakhand, Aditya Rawat took 4 wickets, while Dev and Shourya bagged 2 wickets each.
In reply, Uttarakhand were 129/7 in 42 overs at the draw of stumps on the final day today. Rakshit Dalakoti and Aditya Chakravarthy contributed 47 and 41 runs to the total respectively. Thus Uttarakhand fell short of 14 runs to register win, while J&K needed 3 wickets to script victory.
For J&K, left-arm spinner Jeevesh Gupta was the wrecker-in-chief, who took 5 wickets by conceding 42 runs in his 19 overs while skipper Shaurya Manhas claimed one wicket.
By virtue of gaining a first innings lead, Uttarakhand secured 3 points while J&K earned one point.