Off-spinner Hardhik Munhoth ran through President’s XI innings to put Bangalore Zone in a commanding position on the opening day of the two-day semifinal of the SA Srinivasan memorial under-22 cricket tournament at the RSI ground here on Thursday.

Batting first, President’s XI had few answers to Munhoth’s guiles. The young spinner bedazzled the clueless President’s XI batsmen, returning an impressive seven-wicket haul (7/48). Only R Jonathan (30) and Manish N (40) put up some resistance as President’s XI were bundled out for a modest 156 in 48.1 overs.

In reply, Bangalore Zone were cruising towards victory, finishing the day at a comfortable 117 for three from 29 overs. Stalin Hoover set up the chase with a 56-ball 48 (7x4, 1x6), while Vijay Karthik was batting on 35 with Bangalore needing a further 40 runs for a place in the final. 

In the other semifinal at the NRA ground, Bangalore City, chasing Combined City XI’s competitive 221 all out from 63.4 overs, were sitting pretty at 107 for two from 26 overs.

While there was no single standout batting show in the Combined innings, cameos from SP Mahesh (40), R Karan Rao (31), Pawan Deshpande (30) and AV Raghavendra Rao (39) spurred the total.

P Magizhendan was the most successful bowler for Bangalore City with four for 48, while Dilip Sagar scalped two for 20.

After losing two early wickets, Keshav Chitta (40 batting) and Kunal Kapoor (31 batting) steadied the Bangalore City innings. The match, however, is still wide open with Bangalore City needing a further 115 runs for a victory with eight wickets intact. Raghavendra took both the wickets.

Brief scores:
At RSI: President's XI: 156 all out in 48.1 overs (R Jonathan 36, Manish N 40; Hardhik Munhoth 7-48) vs Bangalore Zone: 117/3 in 29 overs (Vijay Karthik 35 batting, Stalin Hoover 48; A Mithun 2-12).

At NRA: Combined City XI: 221 all out in 63.4 overs (SP Mahesh 40, R Karan Rao 31, Pawan Deshpande 30, AV Raghavendra Rao 39; P Magizhendan 4-48, Dilip Sagar 2-20) vs Bangalore City XI: 107/2 in 26 overs (Keshav Chitta 40 batting, Kunal Kapoor 31 batting; AV Raghavendra Rao 2-27).