Nehal Wadhera misses ton by 2 runs in Atray Trophy

MOHALI:Trident Man of the Match Nehal Wadhera missed century by just two runs as Punjab Colts recorded a five- wicket verdict against Chhattisgarh in the 26th All india J.P Atray Memorial Cricket tournament for Trident Cup here today.
In other matches UPCA routed RBI Mumbai by nine wickets and the match between CAG and Baroda teams was abandoned due to heavy rain in the morning and wet outfield.
Winning the toss at Maharaja Cricket Yadavindra Stadium, PCC opted to field first and restricted Chhattisgarh to 226 for 9 in 50 overs. Chhattisgarh were well served by Shashank Chandrella 48 off 59 balls with 3 boundaries, Amandeep Khare 54 off 74 balls with 3 boundaries and 1 six and Ahustosh Singh 52 off 78 balls with 4 boundaries and 1 six.
For PCC Barinder Saran, Prerit Dutta and Krishan Alang scalped 2 wickets each while Gurnoor Brar and Sumit Sharma pitch forked with 1 each.
Replying, PCC, opened with Abhijit Garg and Nehal Wadhera and the duo put on 33 runs in 7.2 overs before Abhijit Garg was caught by Chandrella off Sashank Singh for 4. Nehal Wadhera who had scored the highest score ever in the tournament continued with his good form as he negotiated spin and pace with great aplomb and put the Punjab innings on rails.
He was unlucky to miss his converted century by 2 runs when he was trapped in front by Nitish Rao for a more than run a ball 98 off 95 balls embellished with 9 rousing boundaries and 4 lusty sixes. He was ably supported by Naman Dhir 35 off 54 balls with 1 boundary and 1 six.
PCC scored 229 for 5 in 45.5 overs to win the match by 5 wickets and garner 4 points while CSCS drew a blank. Nehal Wadhera for his brilliant batting performance was given Trident man of the match by Gagandeep Singh and Devender Bhundela. Despite winning this match PCC could not move in the semifinal as they had lost to UPCA who later on won their match against RBI Mumbai.
Both UPCA and PCC had recorded two wins each but PCC having lost to UPCA in earlier league encounters lagged behind on head to head count.
In the second truncated match played at GMMS Sector 26 UPCA defeated RBI Mumbai by nine wickets to garner four points and secure a place in the semifinals the match which started at1 pm due to early morning rain was rescheduled to 26 overs a side match.
UPCA won the toss and opted to field and restricted RBI Mumbai to 151 for 9 in 26 overs. Dhruv Shorey 52 off 50 balls with 4 boundaries and 3 sixes and Kuldeep Hooda 40 off 44 balls with 2 boundaries and 3 sixes were the main run getters.
For UPCA Shivam Sharma (4 for 21) and Akshdeep Nath (2 for 7) were the main wicket takers. Replying UPCA scored 152 for 1 in 22.3 overs to record a facile 9 wicket win.
Opener Abhishek Goswami unbeaten 93 off 74 balls with 7 boundaries and 7 huge sixes was ably supported by Karan Sharma unbeaten 44 off 52 balls with 5 boundaries. For RBI Mumbai Ankit Rajput 1 for 31 was the only successful bowler. Vivek Atray gave away the Trident man of the match to Abhishek Goswami for his brilliant unbeaten knock of 93.
The third match between CAG Delhi and Baroda Cricket Association at Mahajan Cricket Ground was abandoned due to wet playing conditions by the umpires at 1.40 pm. Both the teams were awarded 2 points each. CAG with earlier 2 wins moved into the semifinals.
Tomorrow's fixtures: Bihar XI vs PCA Colts AT Mullanpur.
DDCA vs Minerva Cricket Academy atGMMS Sec.26, Chandigarh.
Brief scores: RBI Mumbai: 151 for 9 in 26 overs (Sumit Ghadi Gonkar 17, Dhruv Shorey 52, Kuldeep Hooda 40, Chirag Parmar 23, Shivam Sharma 4 for 21, Yash Dayal 1 for 33, Shanu Saini 1 for 21).
UPCA: 152 for 122.3 overs (Abhishek Goswami 93 not out, Karan Sharma 44 not out, Ankit Rajpoot 1 for 31).
UPCA beat RBI Mumbai by 9 wickets.
Trident Man of the Match: Abhishek Goswami.
229 for 5 in 45.5 overs (Nehal Wadhera 98, 9x4s, 4x6s, Rohan Marwaha 10, Naman Dhir 30, Sumit Sharma 35, Anmol Malhotra 13, Preit Dutta 21 not out, Shubham 2 for 51, V Nitish Rao 1 for 32, Ashutosh Singh 1 for 7).
Chhattisgarh: 226 for 8 in 50 overs (Shashank 48, Ashutesh Singh 52, Amandeep Khare 59, Shashank Singh 13, Shubham Aggarwal 22, Krishan Along 2 for 37, Barinder Sarn 2 for 57, Prerit Dutta 2 for 25, Gurnoor Brar 1 for 36, Sumit Sharma 1 for 40).
Trident Man of the Match Nehal Wadhera.PCC won by 5 wickets.