CHENNAI: Punjab earned a 63-run win over Tamil Nadu in the first round of the Group E of the men’s U-19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur on Friday.

Asked to bat first, Punjab scored 284 for eight with opener Bikramjeet Singh top-scoring with 70 (79b, 3x4, 4x6). Arjun Rajput and skipper Aryan Yadav chipped in with useful contributions of 43 and 40. Bikramjeet and Arjun added 110 runs for the second wicket in 139 balls. In reply, TN was bowled out for 221 with opener VK Vineeth’s 98 (114b, 4x4, 2x6) going in vain. Left-arm spinner Shubham Rana was the pick of the bowlers taking four for 42. Off-spinner Arjun Rajput scalped three for 20.

Brief scores: Punjab 284/8 in 50 overs (Bikramjeet Singh 70, Arjun Rajput 43, Aryan Yadav 40, Reavenpreet Singh 37, RD Pranav Ragavendra 2/65, Thasish Kannan 2/43) bt Tamil Nadu 221 in 46.3 overs (VK Vineeth 98, Abhinav Kannan 44, Shubham Rana 4/42, Arjun Rajput 3/20)