Binny back with a bang

Cricket: Safi Darashah Trophy: Chougule slams ton as Combined dominate

Binny, one of the beneficiaries of the BCCI’s recent amnesty offer to all players associated with the Indian Cricket League (ICL), made an unbeaten 115 as City XI sealed their domination on the final day of their drawn three-day encounter against President’s XI at the Chinnaswamy stadium on Tuesday.

The punishing right-hander, overnight 52, smashed 19 fours and a six on his way to his century which, combined with other useful contributions through the order, helped City XI declare their first-innings closed at 451 for six in 121 overs. Binny, Aniruddha Joshi -- who retired hurt -- and P Yogesh (54 n.o.) combined were involved in an unseparated seventh-wicket stand that yielded 172 runs.

That gave them a lead of 206 on the first count against President’s XI, who had folded up for a less than impressive 245 batting first. The President’s XI geared up for next week’s second set of matches with a useful hit out in the second innings, reaching 147 for three when the match was called off. CB Karthik helped himself to 55, while off-spinner Joshi finished with two for 37.

The other face-off at the IAF grounds, between Bangalore Zone and Combined XI, too ended indecisively, though Combined XI completely dominated the match.

Skipper Deepak Chougule was in the forefront of a powerful Combined XI batting display, making 119 (12x4, 2x6) as his side opened up a handsome 201-run first-innings advantage.

Resuming on 236 for three in response to Bangalore Zone’s 213, Combined eventually called a halt to their batting stint at 414 for seven. Bangalore Zone had slumped to 145 for five in their second innings when the game ended.

DH News Service

Brief scores: At Chinnaswamy stadium: President’s XI: 245 all out in 64.5 overs and 147/3 in 49 overs (Vinay Uthappa 39, CB Karthik 55; Aniruddha Joshi 2-37) drew City XI: 451/6 decl in 121 overs (KL Rahul 64, Shoaib Manager 44, Kunal Kapoor 41, Devraj T Patil 45, KV Bharath 34, Stuart Binny 115 n.o., P Yogesh 54 n.o.; Vinu P Narayanan 2-80).

At IAF ground: Bangalore Zone: 213 all out in 57 overs and 145/5 in 45 overs (R Jonathan 50, Mayank Agarwal 35, Pawan Desphande 31; Amit Verma 2-8) drew Combined XI: 414/7 decl in 112 overs (Bharath Chipli 52, Manish Pandey 82, Deepak Chougule 119, Raju Bhatkal 68 n.o.; Dilip Sagar 3-56, Chetan William 2-44).