Sonepur, June 6: Vaishali triumphed over Saran by 5 runs in the Pataliputra zone of the Shyamal Sinha Inter District Under-16 Cricket Tournament, thanks to a half-century by Prem (71 runs) and an impressive bowling performance by Satyam Raj (4 wickets). With this victory, Patna’s team secured the top spot in this zone, Arwal’s team held the second position, Vaishali’s team claimed third place, and Saran’s team remained at the bottom.

In the match held at the local railway stadium, Vaishali won the toss and elected to bat first, scoring 211 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in 40 overs. The key contributions came from Gopal Kumar (15 runs off 34 balls, 2 fours), Jayant Raj (25 runs off 63 balls, 1 four), Prem (71 runs off 82 balls, 7 fours and 1 six), Satyam Raj (22 runs off 13 balls, 1 four and 2 sixes), and Raunak Kumar (17 runs off 16 balls, 3 fours). An additional 36 runs came from extras.

For Saran, Aman and Manish each took two wickets, while Anoop and Akash Raj took one wicket each.

In response, Saran’s team scored 206 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in 40 overs. Manish scored 23 runs off 32 balls (5 fours), Rehan Aslam made 66 runs off 61 balls (10 fours), Piyush Tiwari added 25 runs off 38 balls (3 fours and 1 six), Tanishq Shrivastava contributed 43 runs off 60 balls (2 fours), and Sumit Gupta scored 17 runs off 21 balls (1 four). Extras contributed 14 runs to the total.

For Vaishali, Satyam Raj took 4 wickets, while Prince, Hrithik Kumar Giri, and Jayant Raj took 1 wicket each.

Brief Scores:
Vaishali: 211 runs for 8 wickets in 40 overs (Gopal 15, Jayant Raj 25, Prem 71, Satyam Raj 22, Raunak 17, Extras 36; Aman 2/30, Anoop 1/25, Akash Raj 1/27, Manish 2/25)
Saran: 206 runs for 8 wickets in 40 overs (Manish 23, Rehan Aslam 66, Piyush Tiwari 25, Tanishq Srivastava 43, Sumit Gupta 17, Extras 14; Satyam Raj 4/41, Prince Raj 1/40, Hrithik Kumar Giri 1/44, Jayant Raj 1/20)