S Vinod’s hundred and R Jonathan’s near-century knock perhaps came a tad late in the day. President’s XI’s inexclicable collapse in the first innings, where they could manage only a piddly 156, cost them a place in the final as Bangalore Zone, riding on a 117-run first innings lead, entered the final of the S A Srinivasan memorial under-22 tournament at the RSI ground here on Friday.
In the two-day final from Saturday at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore Zone will take on Bangalore City XI, who pipped Combined City XI in the other semifinal.
Bangalore Zone, resuming at their overnight 117 for three, needed another 40 to overhaul President’s XI’s total and take the all important first innings lead. They achieved that and declared their first innings at 273 for nine from 66.3 overs.
President’s, in the second essay, came into their own, with Vinod slamming an unbeaten 101 (180b, 15x4) and Jonathan (98) missing the feat by a whisker. President’s finished the day at 228 for two in 53 overs but the effort did little in compensating the first innings batting failure.
In the other semis at NRA, Bangalore City XI, overnight 107 for two in pursuit of Combined City XI’s 221, replied with 278 all out from 74 overs, taking the crucial 57-run first innings lead. Overnight batsmen, Keshav Chitta (52) and Kunal Kapoor (72) completed their hundreds.Dilip Sagar scalped four for 26 as Combined, in their second hit, were reduced to 104 for seven in 25 overs when the play ended.
Brief scores: At RSI: President’s XI: 156 and 228/2 in 53 overs (S Vinod 101 n.o., R Johnathan 98) drew with Bangalore Zone (O/n 117/3): 273/9 decl in 66.3 overs (Vijay Karthik 40, Stalin Hoover 48, Amith Kumar 40, Rohan Shah 45; Mithun A 3-46, Tharun Muthanna 3-56)
At NRA: Combined City XI: 221 and 104/7 in 25 overs (Pavan Deshpade 26; Dilip Sagar 4-26, Madhusudan 2-16) drew with Bangalore City XI (O/n 107/2): 278 all out 74 overs (Keshav Chitta 52, Kunal Kapoor 72, Nishanth Hegde 31, Arjun Hegde 37; Nischith 4-39, Raghavendra Rao 2-36, Nikhil Kashyap 3-59).
