With the win, Malleswaram stormed into the final where they lock horns with City Cricketers, who scored a hard-fought win over Dolphin Cricketers in their semifinal encounter.
In the match between Malleswaram and Jawans CC, the former batted first and scored a modest 228 all out in 81.4 overs with some useful contributions from their batsmen, even as Jawans’ bowlers did a decent job -- namely Karthikeyan (3/51). Jawans’ batsmen took the field to make a match of things but Malleswaram’s bowlers did a good job of bowling them out for 157 in 53.5 overs. Naveen (5/36) and Goutham (3-37) were the pick of the bowlers for Malleswaram.
In their second stint with the bat, Malleswaram fared much worse but that was mainly due to a spellbinding bowling display from Karthikyan, who added another nine wickets to his first innings tally of three. Malleswaram added 117 runs in their second innings to the 71-run lead they had already established.
With 188 runs to win, Jawans finished at 86 for six in 13 overs, handing Malleswaram the match virtue their first innings lead.
City Cricketers rode on D Nithin’s half-century (61) and a five-wicket haul from C Santrupath 5-26 to overcome Dolphins by two wickets.
Needing 184 for victory, City reached the target, losing eight wickets in the 40th over with Ojas Yadav remaining unbeaten on 41.
Brief scores (semifinals): Malleswaram Gymkhana: 228 all out in 81.4 overs (Punith 36, Mahmood 28, Adhithya 42, Om Prakash 27; Adhokash 2-22, RS Karthikeyan 3-51, Ankitha Misra 2-38) and 117 all out in 37 overs (Abbas 40; RS Karthikeyan 9-56) bt Jawans Cricket Club: 157 all out in 53.5 overs (Souvik 26, RV Abhishek 83; Goutham 3-37, Naveen 5-36) and 86/6 in 13 overs (Naveen 3-10).
Dolphin Cricketers: 176 all out in 54.5 overs (VR Milid 77, CVS Praneeth 52; C Santrupath 5-33, Vyshak V 2-38, Nithin D 2-17) and 131 all out in 36.1 (Dhanush 51, D Nithin 2-15, C Santrupath 5-26) lt to City Cricketers: 123 all out in 58.1 overs (D Nithin 30; Amar 4-31, Manoj 2-22, Manish 2-43) and 185/8 in 40 overs (D Nithin 61, V Vyshank 26, S Ojas Yadav 41 n.o.; Amar 4-54).
