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Vadodara: The Jammu & Kashmir players had reasons to believe that they were having a dream run on Day One of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Punjab, at the Motibaug on Wednesday.
With the score reading 146-7 after 45 overs, the end looked nigh for the Punjab batting line-up as the J&K pacers, led by Umar Nazir, made most of the helpful conditions.
But, Harbhajan Singh ruined J&K's fairytale start by scoring a belligerent 92 that took Punjab to a respectable first innings total of 304. J&K were in for another setback after losing opener Obaid Haroon in the very first over, closing the day at 11 for 1.
Harbajan, back in action after missing four games due to an injury, launched a counter-attack in his own inimitable style at a time when his team was struggling to even cross the 200-run mark.
The out of favour India spinner, who has two Test hundreds to his name, clobbered six sixes and eight fours in his highly entertaining innings. The Punjab captain spotted a weak link in J&K skipper Parvez Rasool and carted him for four sixes in the 70th over of the day.
He later revealed the reasons for going after his opposite number. "We were not getting runs off the seamers so I decided to take on the spinners. The wicket was offering good bounce but wasn't helping the spinners," Harbhajan said.
Earlier, the J&K pacers utilised the conditions to great effect as they ran through the experienced batting line up. Punjab lost its first wicket in 12th over when Manan Vohra edged a sharp Nazir delivery to the wicketkeeper. Ram Dayal then induced an edge of Jiwanjot Singh to leave the opponents reeling at 36 for two.
Dayal also bagged the prized wicket of Yuvraj Singh who was caught at third slip. The struggling left-hander, who has been dropped from India's New Zealand-bound squad, managed to score just 10 runs off 19 balls during his brief stay in the middle. Ravi Singh and Gurkeerat Singh then stitched a 50-run partnership for the fifth wicket before Nazir bowled Gurkeerat.
With five down for 121, there was more trouble in store for Punjab. Medium pacer Samiullah Beigh removed Inder Singh and Gitansh Khera in quick succession. It was then when Harbhajan took over and he found a suitable ally in Sandeep Sharma. The duo build a 105-run stand for the eighth wicket.
Sharma batted stoically for his 51, taking 123 deliveries even as his skipper went ballistic at the other end. Harbhajan was caught at short fine leg off Rasool while attempting a sweep. Sharma stepped up the attack to score some quick runs before Nazir cleaned him up.
Brief scores:
Punjab 304 (Harbhajan Singh 92, Sharma 51, Nazir 4-66, Dayal 3-59)
Jammu & Kashmir 11 for 1
Status Jammu & Kashmir trial by 293 runs
