Gambhir's patient half-century foils Mumbai plan

Sat, Nov 7 11:50 AM

Chandigarh, Nov. 7 -- A stubborn batting display by Punjab all-rounder Gourav Gambhir (50 not out) denied defending champions Mumbai an outright victory in their Ranji opener here on Friday.

Mumbai had to satisfy themselves with three points while Punjab got one. After the home team was done in by the Mumbai attack in its first essay, it put up a much improved performance in the second innings to finish on 311 for 7.

Everything was going as per the script for the visitors before debutant Gambhir came to bat at No. 7.

Punjab had lost half their side with 164 on the board. Gambhir batted for more than three hours for his half century.

He shared a 56-run stand with Pankaj Dharmani (46; 9x4) for the sixth wicket and a vital 46-run stand with Rahul Sharma (22) for the seventh wicket. Resuming at 55 for one, the overnight pair of Ravi Inder Singh and Uday Kaul showed lot of determination to keep the Mumbai bowlers at bay.

The pair added 103 for the second wicket before Ravi was caught behind off Dhawal Kulkarni for 58. That opened the floodgates and soon Punjab were struggling.

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