JOIN USVinay's five destroys KSCA Colts
With pace spearhead R Vinay Kumar (5/24) in the forefront, KSCA XI all but secured their semifinal berth in the KSCA all-India invitation tournament, first rolling over the KSCA Colts for a modest 162 and finishing day one of the two-day quarterfinal clash at a commanding 106 for one.
On an up-and-down surface where it was naive for a batsman to believe he was ‘in’, Vinay turned in a telling display of medium-pace bowling, doing the early damage in a six-over spell with the new ball that netted him two wickets, and then coming back to finish off the job.
Support for him came from his new-ball partner, the promising A Mithun, as well as from the spin of skipper Sunil Joshi and offie Udit Patel as the Colts struggled to handle the twin challenges of a demanding track and an unflagging bowling attack.
Only when Sudhindra Shinde, entrusted with the responsibility of guiding the Colts, and Kunal Kapoor were in the middle did the youngsters put up any resistance worth the name.
The duo added 41 for the third wicket, but there was precious little before or after as the KSCA XI imposed themselves on the opposition relentlessly.
Any hopes the Colts entertained of making a match of it were then emphatically ended by the opening combine of KB Pawan and the more adventurous CM Gautam, who played some handsome strokes before being smartly caught by Aditya Sagar running back from mid-off as the batsman tried to go inside out against left-arm spinner C Raghavendra.
Pawan and the diminutive Deepak Chougule saw the team through to stumps without further damage, leaving the seniors needing just 57 more on the second morning.
The other KSCA team in the fray, the President’s XI, gave an excellent account of itself against defending champions Tamil Nadu Cricket Association at the IAF grounds.
For the second time in two matches, the Tamil Nadu batting came a cropper as they were bowled out for 180 in a match reduced to 84 overs a side due to overnight rains.
Skipper C Raghu rounded off a fine day personally too by following up his off-spinning success (3/23) to remain unbeaten on 27 as the President’s XI reached 52 for one, 129 short of setting up an all-KSCA semifinal clash.
Brief scores: At Chinnaswamy stadium: KSCA Colts: 162 all out in 63.2 overs (Kunal Kapoor 39, Sudhindra Shinde 38, Aditya Sagar 26; R Vinay Kumar 5-24, Udit Patel 2-58, Sunil Joshi 2-24) vs KSCA XI: 106/1 in 36 overs (KB Pawan 46 n.o., CM Gautam 29, Deepak Chougule 26 n.o.).
At IAF grounds: Tamil Nadu Cricket Association: 180 all out in 47 overs (S Anirudha 60, Dinesh Kaarthick 25, S Suresh Kumar 28, Lakshmipathi Balaji 30; C Raghu 3-23, DV Anish 2-36) vs KSCA President’s XI: 52/1 in 23 overs (C Raghu 27 n.o.). Match reduced to 84 overs a side, overnight rain.
At RWF grounds: Air India Sports Club: 417 all out in 99.2 overs (Robin Uthappa 66, Sushant Marathe 108, Hrishikesh Kanitkar 71, Prashanth Naik 50; Harshad Rawale 5-21, Kulamani Parida 2-121) vs Railways Sports Promotion Board.
At NRA grounds: Dr DY Patil Sports Academy: 168/6 in 54 overs (Shoaib Sheikh 42, Yogesh Takawale 80, Niaz 3-15, Rakesh 2-46) vs Kerala Cricket Association. Match reduced to 77 overs, overnight rain.