Defending champions Punjab won the Vijay Merchant Trophy U-16 after securing a first innings lead against Mumbai in a drawn final at the Alur Cricket Stadium, Bengaluru on Sunday. The result was a forgone conclusion as Mumbai were left to chase a mammoth 652 runs in the fourth innings after Punjab, who had a healthy lead of 137 runs, posted 514 in their second essay. Mumbai eventually finished at 220/5 in 65 overs.
Once Mumbai lost the U-19 final in a remarkable fashion to Uttar Pradesh on Friday, hopes were pinned on their U-16 team, but they were completely outplayed. While the Mumbai bowlers struggled in the second innings, allowing Punjab to put up a massive score despite Vignesh Solanki’s 8/173, their batsmen too failed. In the first innings, while opener Divyansh Saxena scored an unbeaten century, others did not even cross the 25-run mark. They improved in the final innings with the two openers sharing a 94-run stand.
Punjab’s Abhishek Sharma, who made 66 and 123 in the important game was the standout performer as he also picked up a five-wicket haul in the first innings. He ended the tournament as the leading run-scorer with 1200 runs in 12 innings with an average of 112.33. Stunningly, Abhishek also bagged 57 wickets in just seven matches to also emerge as the highest wicket-taker.
Brief Score: Punjab 1st inns 311/10 (Deepin Chitkara 69, Abhishek Sharma 66, Atharva Ankolekar 6/105) and 514/10 (Deepin Chitkara 123, Abhishek Sharma 123, Vignesh Solanki 8/173) drew with Mumbai 174/10 (Divyansh Saxena 109, Abhishek Sharma 5/59) and 220/5 (Suved Parkar 91,Yashasvi Jaiswal 41 not out).
