CRICKET TOURNEY Our Sports Correspondent Ludhiana, June 21 Led from the front, Ludhiana skipper Deepin Chitkara helped his side reach a comfortable zone on the opening day of the match against Hoshiarpur in the ongoing Punjab Inter-District (U-23) Cricket Championship being played at GRD Academy on Hambran Road here today. Deepin bowled a devastating spell, grabbing seven wickets to send the visitors packing at 45 runs in their first innings and then played a hurricane innings of 102 runs to declare at 281 for four, taking a firm grip over the match. Hoshiarpur captain Ashish Ghai’s decision to bat first proved to be a miscalculated one as their innings folded in 105 minutes after 28 overs with only 45 runs on the board. Deepin Chitkara sent down 11 overs, six of which were maiden, and took seven wickets after conceding only 11 runs. Gurmehar Singh (2 for five) and Rahul Khanna (1 for 19) were the other wicket takers. Ludhiana too began their reply on a shaky note, losing two wickets at 11 runs. However, Nehal Wadhera and Deepin Chitkara took control of the situation. Deepin, went after the bowling. He scored a quick hundred off 102 balls with the help of three sixes and 16 fours. Nehal contributed 46 runs as the duo added 141 runs for the third wicket. Jaskaranvir Singh and Ritik Singh remained unbeaten on 58 and 50 runs, respectively. Hoshiarpur used eight bowlers but without much success. Trailing by 236 runs, Hoshiarpur is facing a daunting task of wiping out the lead and force the hosts bat again, tomorrow.

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