In a low-scoring match at Ch Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium, Rohtak, Services beat Haryana by just one run in a low-scoring encounter. Arjun Sharma and Pulkit Narang picked up five-wicket hauls as Sumit Kumar remained stranded on one end. Services's win over Haryana is only the second one-run win in Ranji Trophy history. The previous one-run win came in 1975 when Andhra Pradesh beat Tamil Nadu.
Starting at an overnight score of 78/4, skipper Rajat Paliwal attacked with wicketkeeper-batter L S Kumar. The partnership was broken by Rahul Tewatia. Kumar scored 26 runs from 77 balls. Tewatia continued to strike as he got the wickets of Ravi Chauhan, Arjun, and Raj Bahadur. Paliwal scored 86 runs from 92 balls featuring nine fours and four sixes before Services were bowled out for 140 in 38.3 overs.
Haryana's run chase got off to a good start. Ankit Kumar and Harshal Patel shared a 51-run partnership. In the ninth over, Arjun got the breakthrough. Patel scored 17 runs from 26 balls. Ankit missed his half-century as Narang got the better of him a few overs later. The opener scored 41 runs from 44 balls featuring four fours.
Then Mayank Shadilya fell for a 13-ball 15. Nishant Sindhu could not make an impact and scored just one run before becoming Narang's second victim. In his next over, Narang trapped wicketkeeper-batter Rohit Parmod Sharma in front of the stumps. Himanshu Rana could not stay longer at the crease and fell to Arjun. Skipper Ashok Menaria tried to stitch a partnership with Sumit but got bowled by Narang after scoring six runs from 26 balls.
Demoted down the order, Tewatia came out to bat. The finisher for Gujarat Titans (GT) failed to live up to the expectations and got out lbw to Arjun. From 105/8, Sumit and Anshul Kamboj kept the run chase alive. They shared a 28-run partnership for the ninth wicket. With 13 more runs to win, Kamboj got bowled by Arjun. He scored 11 runs from 25 balls. Tailender Aman Kumar faced as many balls as he could and let Sumit score from the other end. In the end, Narang took his wicket to lead Services to a one-run win. Sumit remained unbeaten for 37 runs from 60 balls including one four and a couple of sixes.
This was Services' first win of the season. It helped them climb to fifth place on the Elite Group A points table. Haryana are placed third with two wins from five games.
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