In the first round of the 84th season of the Ranji Trophy, Punjab put in a strong performance against Himachal Pradesh at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala. Ironically, despite scoring 600+ runs in the match and restricting the opposition to 145-6 in 40 overs in the second innings, Punjab ended up being on the other side of the draw due to Prashant Chopra's maiden triple hundred in First-class cricket. They had to settle for a lone point, whereas, the hosts earned three valuable points citing their 128-run first innings lead.

Sumeet Verma, who is leading Himachal Pradesh in this season, won the toss and chose to bat. Opening batsman, Priyanshu Khanduri, was handed a First-class debut. Punjab fielded in a similar-looking playing eleven to what we predicted in our preview before the match. The only change was that debutant Anmolpreet Singh (Patiala) was included in the middle order in place of Taruwar Kohli. Anmolpreet, who represented India under the captaincy of Ishan Kishan in the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup 2016 in Bangladesh, has been a popular name in the junior-level cricket in Punjab. He was on the brink of making his First-class debut for sometime now. Among others, who were given their First-class caps by Punjab were Jalandhar's Abhishek Gupta and current India U-19 all-rounder, 17-year old Abhishek Sharma from Amritsar.

Before anyone could take notice of what happened in the first two sessions on Day 1, Chopra had already put his team on the driver's seat. The right-hand opening batsman equalled Rajeev Nayyar's record of highest individual score (271) by a Himachal Pradesh batsman in First-class cricket. He ended Day 1 on 271* as Himachal Pradesh scored a whopping 459-2 in 90 overs at Stumps. Chopra entered the record books as he had scored the second-highest individual score by an Indian batsman in a single day in First-class cricket.

Veteran batsman, Paras Dogra, who was unbeaten on 99 on Day 1 failed to score his 21st First-class century as Sandeep Sharma bowled him on the third delivery of Day 2. Sandeep picked up his third wicket as he found Nikhil Gangta (6) wanting in front of the stumps in his next over. Both the dismissals had no effect, whatsoever, on Chopra as he went on to score his triple hundred on his 25th birthday.

Before Pargat Singh caught him off his own bowling, Chopra has scored 338 (363) with the help of 44 fours and two sixes. Some valuable lower order contributions by the hosts' batsmen led by wicket-keeper Ankush Bains (80), aided Himachal to score 729-8 dec. in 148 overs. With bowling figures of 36-6-149-4, Sandeep was the pick of the bowlers for Punjab. Manpreet Singh Grewal picked up a couple of wickets and Pargat and Abhishek Sharma picked up a wicket apiece. Barinder Sran, who was playing a First-class match after more than a year and a half returned with unforgettable figures of 26-0-150-0.

Because of Pargat's half-century (64), Punjab ended Day 2 on 110-1 in 30 overs. In what was not the most ideal of starts, Punjab kept on losing wickets at regular intervals on Day 3. They were restricted to 274-6 in 79.4 overs. With all the specialist batsmen back in the hut, the follow-on was seeming as a near certainty. But, the Abhishek duo had some other plans. Courtesy Abhishek Gupta and Abhishek Sharma's outstanding grit and determination, Punjab didn't lose any more wicket on Day 3 and were 484-6 in 122 overs at Stumps.

The wicket-keeper and the all-rounder, though short in experience, stood tall against the home team to stitch a 239-run partnership. Abhishek Sharma missed a First-class hundred on debut by six runs as he scored 94 (186) with the help of 13 fours and a six. Citing the lack of partners, this was when Gupta shifted gears and completed his maiden double hundred. The fact that he had played the innings after keeping wickets for almost five sessions and under a significant amount of pressure speaks volumes of the 27-year old. He ended up scoring 202 (203) with the help of 24 fours and five towering sixes and at a strike rate of 99.50.

With more than a session remaining in the match, Punjab were all out on 601 in 154.3 overs. For Himachal, 34-year old offbreak bowler, Gurvinder Singh, picked up his third First-class five-wicket haul and career best figures of 46-8-162-6. Former captain of Himachal Pradesh, Rishi Dhawan, picked up a solitary wicket of Sran on the last ball of the innings. Most of Dhawan's 249 First-class wickets have come at Dharamsala. To prohibit him a wicket for 146 deliveries can be considered as another positive for the Punjab team.

Punjab's fast bowlers would have gained a lot of confidence with their performance in the second innings. After leaking 444 runs in 90 overs at an economy rate of 4.93, the trio of Sandeep, Grewal and Sran picked up a couple of wickets each as the opposition was reduced to 81-6 in the 22nd over. Punjab should be contended with this draw as it is better than what most of the people thought on the afternoon of Day 3.

In a six-match league format, one cannot afford more than one such performance where the opposition posts a total of 700+. Punjab should consider the first innings as one such performance and work in the most appropriate way in the matches to come. With Punjab travelling back to Mohali and Yuvraj Singh expected to return in their second match against Vidarbha on Saturday, one can expect them to be at a higher position in the points table on their home deck.

Watch how the Twitterati reacted on this match:

https://twitter.com/ImMananVohra/status/917367751726981120

https://twitter.com/ImRahulSharma3/status/917317361753120770

https://twitter.com/TeamRanjiPunjab/status/917360471178584064

https://twitter.com/mandeeps12/status/917022761637208065

https://twitter.com/ajratra/status/917054290941923329

Photo Credits: ESPN cricinfo.