Juneja takes Gujarat to 232 in 2nd innings against Punjab

Valsad: Manprit Juneja cracked a patient 79 as Gujarat scored 232 in their second innings against Punjab on the penultimate day of the Group A Ranji Trophy match at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium here on Monday.

Juneja hit seven boundaries in his 169-ball innings to anchor the Gujarat innings after they bowled out the visitors for 268 in their first innings. Gujarat had scored 266 in their first innings. Resuming at an overnight score of 227 for seven, Punjab`s first innings folded when Uday Kaul was caught by Jesal Karia off Rush Kalaria`s bowling after adding 30 runs to his overnight 63. In their second innings, Gujarat were 24-2 in 14.4 overs when Juneja came into bat and along with skipper Parthiv Patel tried to steady the ship, adding 63 runs for the third wicket. But Parthiv was dismissed by Amitoze Singh in the 27th over and in the next over Sarabjit Ladda accounted for Y Venugopal Rao to reduce the hosts to 96 for four. Juneja held on to one end but wickets kept tumbling on the other as Gujarat further plummeted to 148-7. Juneja added another 61 runs for the eight wicket with Kalaria (not out 33), before becoming a victim of Ladda. Ladda was the highest wicket-taker for Punjab as he scalped four, while S kaul and Gurkeerat Singh snapped a couple of wickets each. Brief Score: Gujarat: 266 & 232 all out in 68.5 overs (Uday Kaul 93; Rakesh Dhruv 3/51) Punjab 268 all out in 68.5 overs (MC Juneja 79; S Ladda 4/112). PTI