Amandeep Khare produced two contrasting essays on Tuesday and ensured Chhattisgarh lived to fight another day against Punjab in their Ranji Trophy second-round fixture at the New PCA Stadium here.
His second effort required him to drop anchor after a sudden top-order slump, and with an attritional 89-ball 37, Khare took the visiting side to 123 for three at stumps on day three after it was asked to follow-on.
Ayush Pandey (59 batting, 161b, 8x4, 1x6) showed gumption for a fight and put price on his wicket, joining Khare in a 74-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Openers Pandey and Sanidhya Hurkat had chopped off 48 out of the first-innings deficit of 250 when Emanjot Chahal picked two wickets off as many balls to throw a spanner in the works. Realising what the situation demanded, Pandey recalibrated and joined Khare in navigating the passage, even if it meant runs came at a trickle.
Harjas Tandon found a breakthrough, pinning Pandey on 42, but Punjab’s celebration was cut short after a third-umpire check revealed the off-spinner had overstepped.
In the morning session, Vikalp Tiwari brushed aside his team’s precarious situation and launched a counter-attack, beginning with a swept boundary against Harpreet Brar. Gurnoor Brar was taken by surprise when Tiwari ramped his surprise bouncer over the ’keeper.
Tiwari had the rub of the green too as his edges off Gurnoor crept through the cordon for boundaries. But not long after he pulled Tandon past mid-on, the off-spinner threw an arm-ball to catch Tiwari plumb in front.
In his first innings (91, 154b, 11x4, 1x6), Khare had picked the odd boundary but had crank it up a notch, realising he was running out of time and partners.
He slog-swept Emanjot for a four, Harpreet for a six before going inside-out over covers against the latter. He was interested in another aerial hit off Harpreet when he miscued his loft and holed out at mid-off.
The scores:
Punjab — 1st innings: Vihaan Malhotra lbw b Dharmendra 40, Harnoor Pannu lbw b Ajay 20, Uday Saharan c Rahul b Dharmendra 161, Shubman Gill b Ajay 1, Prabhsimran Singh lbw b Dharmendra 62, Salil Arora lbw b Dharmendra 107, Harpreet Brar lbw b Dharmendra 27, Emanjot Chahal lbw b Sandeep 7, Harjas Tandon lbw b Dharmendra 16, Gurnoor Brar c Ayush b Dharmendra 6, Umesh Yadav (not out) 2; Extras (lb-6, wd-1): 7; Total (in 152.5 overs): 456.
Fall of wickets: 1-55, 2-65, 3-68, 4-198, 5-389, 6-409, 7-422, 8-444, 9-449.
Chhattisgarh bowling: Sandeep 26-2-92-1, Dev Aditya 23-4-57-0, Dharmendra 55.5-7-173-7, Mandal 41-7-98-2, Vikalp 6-0-27-0, Ayush 1-0-3-0.
Chhattisgarh — 1st innings: Ayush Pandey c Prabhsimran b Harpreet 14, Sanidhya Hurkat c Shubman b Harpreet 4, Ashutosh Singh lbw b Harpreet 16, Sanjeet Desai lbw b Harpreet 5, Amandeep Khare c Uday b Harpreet 91, Dharmendra Jadeja c Vihaan b Harpreet 0, Vikalp Tiwari lbw b Harjas 47, Rahul Pradhan lbw b Harpreet 0, Ajay Mandal b Harjas 22, Dev Aditya Singh c Salil b Harjas 2, Sandeep Warrier (not out) 0; Extras (lb-1, nb-4): 5; Total (in 64.5 overs): 206.
Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-21, 3-36, 4-45, 5-45, 6-128, 7-129, 8-170, 9-186.
Punjab bowling: Gurnoor 12-1-43-0, Umesh 2-1-3-0, Harpreet 23.5-5-56-7, Emanjot 13-1-35-0, Tandon 14-2-68-3.
Chhattisgarh — 2nd innings: Ayush Pandey (batting) 59, Sanidhya Hurkat c Vihaan b Emanjot 25, Ashutosh Singh lbw b Emanjot 0, Sanjeet Desai b Harpreet 0, Amandeep Khare (batting) 37; Extras (nb-2): 2; Total (for three wkts. in 54 overs): 123.
Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-48, 3-49.
Punjab bowling: Gurnoor 3-0-7-0, Harpreet 18-4-56-1, Tandon 12-5-31-0, Emanjot 14-8-13-2, Vihaan 2-0-2-0, Uday 2-2-0-0, Umesh 2-1-5-0, Gill 1-0-9-0.