Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 5: Talented youngster Sahil Lotra scored brilliant 59 runs to help J&K reach 170 for the loss of 9 wickets at stumps in a rain-hit day-1 of the match of Cooch Behar U-19 Boys Cricket Tournament between Jammu and Kashmir and Hyderabad at GGM Science College Hostel ground, here today.
Hyderabad skipper, N Sandeep Goud won the toss and put Jammu and Kashmir into bat.
Batting first, J&K openers Nipun Verma and Suryansh Raina played cautiously and confidently to contribute 62 runs for the opening wicket. Suryansh scored 38 off 38 balls, studded with 7 delectable boundaries, while Nipun contributed 24 runs off 38 balls with the help of 3 boundaries. Number three batsman Sahil Lotra was the star performer of the day, who scored magnificent 59 runs off 129 balls, occupying the crease for 180 minutes and hitting 7 crispy boundaries. He struck the ball with fluid grace and utter brilliance and his defence was rock solid. Mohammad Hasiq Bhat and Sunil Kumar were the only other batsmen to reach the double figures, scoring 19 and unbeaten 10 runs respectively.
Sunil Kumar and Auqib Nabi were at the crease with 10 and 5 runs respectively, when the match was called off due to rain. For Hyderabad, P Praneeth Reddy was the wrecker-in-chief, who scalped 4 important wickets by conceding 23 runs in 13 overs, while Nithesh Reddy took 3 wickets by giving away 37 runs in his 13 overs. Vinta Satwick Reddy and Rajamani Prasad claimed one wicket each.