The Elite Group A encounter between Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand begins on Tuesday (December 27) in the Ranji Trophy. On the first day of the match, Himachal won the toss and decided to bat first. This decision of team captain Rishi Dhawan proved wrong.

Uttarakhand did not allow Himachal to even reach 50 runs. Himachal’s team was bundled out for 49 runs in the first innings. Deepak Dhapola bowled killer for Uttarakhand.

Deepak took eight wickets for 35 runs in 8.3 overs. Taking advantage of the early morning moisture, he bowled dangerously. Himachal had a bad start. Two wickets fell for five runs. After this, Amit Kumar and Ankit Kalsi shared a 17-run partnership for the third wicket.

After Amit’s dismissal, the process of falling wickets started. None of the Himachal batsmen could stay at the crease. Only Ankit Kalsi could touch the double digit. He scored 26 runs off 42 balls. Five players could not even open their account.

Deepak wreaked havoc –

Deepak Dhapola dismissed the first five batsmen. He sent Raghav Dhawan (0), Prashant Chopra (1), Ankit Kalsi (26), Amit Kumar (6) and Akash Vashisht (4) to the pavilion. Deepak then sent three lower order batsmen to the pavilion.

He dismissed Mayank Dagar (0), Pankaj Jaiswal (5) and Vaibhav Arora (0). Abhay Negi sent Rishi Dhawan (5) and Praveen Thakur (0) to the pavilion.

Uttarakhand took a lead of 246 runs  –

At the end of the day’s play, Uttarakhand were 295 for six in reply to Himachal’s 49. He is ahead by 246 runs in the first innings. Wicketkeeper Aditya Tare scored an unbeaten 91 for Uttarakhand. Abhay Negi is unbeaten after scoring 48 runs. Jivanjot Singh 45, Priyanshu Khanduri 36, Aryan Sharma 23, Akhil Rawat 16, Kunal Chandela 14 and Swapnil Singh were dismissed after scoring 12 runs.

Rishi Dhawan had taken maximum three wickets for Himachal. Vaibhav Arora, Pankaj Jaiswal and Mayank Dagar have got one success each.

Jay Shah Tweeted –

Deepak Dhapola got a big compliment from BCCI Secretary Jai Shah. Jai Shah did a special tweet for Deepak. He wrote, “Ranji Trophy has helped in bringing out the talents from time to time. This time it is Deepak Dhapola of Uttarakhand. Deepak took eight wickets for 35 runs against Himachal. One of the best bowling performances of the tournament. He has a long way ahead of him.”

 

By Ritik Sharma

A common man who is doing calm se kaam, a failed cricketer, still in love with it. Establishing my journey into Journalism & if you love my articles then share it with your dear ones Instagram - @ritiksharma45