da poker： The Punjab batsmen, led by Yuvraj Singh, just kept piling onthe agony for Bihar on the fourth and final day of the CoochBehar Trophy (under-19) final at the Keenan stadium in Jamshedpuron Sunday
Partab Ramchand19-Dec-1999The Punjab batsmen, led by Yuvraj Singh, just kept piling onthe agony for Bihar on the fourth and final day of the CoochBehar Trophy (under-19) final at the Keenan stadium in Jamshedpuron Sunday. Having already made sure of winning the title onSaturday, Punjab who were 431 for two at close of play on thethird day in reply to Bihar’s first innings total of 357, battedthe whole day and ended with the mammoth score of 839 for fivein 854 minutes off 222 overs.Skipper Yuvraj Singh, on 232 overnight, just kept batting andbatting till he was finally out for 358. The Chandigarh born lad,who turned 18 earlier this month, batted 579 minutes, faced 404balls and hit 40 fours and six sixes. His partnership for thethird wicket with V Mahajan realised 341 runs from 87.2 overs.It was truly a monumental effort by the teenager, who had cometo the crease on Friday evening at the fall of the first wicketat 60. He had initially put on 207 runs for the second wicketwith Manish Sharma.There was no respite for the beleaguered Bihar bowlers evenafter they had dismissed Yuvraj Singh. Mahajan and HK Kali (40)then added 72 runs for the fourth wicket off 12.2 overs. Thecascade of runs continued unabated with Mahajan and M Dhuper(66) increasing the score by 119 runs during a fifth wicketassociation that lasted 22.2 overs. Dhuper made merry, facingjust 73 balls and hitting eleven fours. But by now all eyeswere on Mahajan who was nearing his double century. He got itjust before close and at the end of the game was unbeaten with204, compiled off 520 minutes. He faced 414 balls and hit 21 fours.The Bihar bowlers, not unexpectedly, ended up with the kind offigures they see in their bad dreams. A Yadav sent down 81 oversand conceded 289 runs while capturing two wickets. Satendra Mishrawas expensive conceding 218 runs off 49 overs while takingtwo wickets.