President's emerge champions

Skipper Nair does the trick

Karun Nair led from front to fashion President’s XI’s title triumph in the SA Srinivasan Memorial Trophy tournament here at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.   

On the second and last day of the final, President’s, in pursuit of Combined’s first innings total of 244 all out, were 247 for five in 73.3 overs when the match was called off following a brief spell of rain. Having gained the all-important innings lead, President’s were crowned the champions.

Resuming at their overnight score of 39/0, President’s openers frustrated Combined bowlers with a title-clinching stand between them. Secure in the knowledge that the first innings lead would land them the hounours, Nair (94, 150b, 7x4, 3x6), unlucky to miss out on a well-deserved century, and Prithvi Varadharajan (58, 154b, 7x4) went about their chase in a calculated manner. The duo realised 158 runs from 299 balls which effectively shut Combined out of contest.

There was a minor scare when President’s lost three wickets in the space of six runs, including both the openers, but the damage had already been done. A 50-run association between KV Sidharth and Sadiq Kirmani brought them closer to achieving innings lead while Kranthi Kumar and David Mathias completed the formalities with a 27-run unbroken association for the sixth wicket.

It was, however, surprising to see the match being called off though the conditions were perfectly right after a sharp shower.

While the continuation would have had no impact on the outcome of the game, it would have given players some valuable practice. What is the point if you can’t even complete a two-day match?


Brief scores: Combined City XI: 244 all out in 79.1 overs drew President’s XI (39/0): 247/5 in 73.3 overs (Prithvi Varadharajan 58, Karun Nair 94, Sadiq Kirmani 25; Prabhakar R 2-76, Bharath Kondajji 2-79).