JOIN USColts fight back to remain in the contest
KSCA Colts gave themselves a good chance to push for an outright win when they produced a near flawless batting effort in the second innings against Odisha on the third day of the Safi Darashah tournament at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here on Friday.
An intriguing last hour was ruined when the rain gods intervened, forcing the day’s play to be called off at 4.38 pm. Colts, by then, had reached 261 for three in 73.1 overs for an overall lead of 251 runs. Odisha overnight 209/8, din’t last long and were bowled out for 214, with pacer David Mathias castling Basant Mohanty to complete a well deserved five-wicket haul.
On the fourth and final day of the match on Saturday, Colts can bat another 14.5 overs to extend their lead, and Odisha, who batted 92.5 overs in their first essay, will have a maximum of 87 overs to hunt down the target. Under the new rules for this tournament, teams are allowed to carry forward the unused overs, in case of a bowl out, from the first innings to their second innings.
Cut to the day’s action, the Colts’ top-order had a point to prove after their abysmal showing in the first essay and they did it in some style. Abhishek Reddy, the opener, started like a steam train and showed that he possessed all the shots in the book. His association with N Bharath at the pole position was unbroken at 79 at lunch.
The roles were reversed in the second session with Bharath doing the bulk of the scoring and soon a century stand was raised between them. But Basant Mohanty, who had got three wickets in the first innings, struck just at the right time to dismiss Bharath, who had prodded at an away going delivery and nicked to ‘keeper -- Haladhar Das.
At the other end, Reddy brought his fifty with a fine flick through square-leg. Sanjay Kumar, who came in at No 3, made life even more miserable for the Odisha bowlers, taking the attack to left-arm spinner Jayant Behera with two glorious lofted shots, one of which sailed over the fence.
The tired Odisha bowlers got a major filip after tea when Biplab Samantray, with his dibbly-dobblers, managed to break the defences of Reddy, who was ten shot of a 100 at that time.
With the onus now on Colts to set a target and possibly make Odisha bat again for a few overs before stumps, KN Bharath, the no 4, kept the scoreboard ticking, while Kumar brought up his 50 with a flick past the square-leg umpire. It was a fine exhibition of batting that left the Odisha bowlers a clueless lot.
On 39 and looking good for more, Bharath was dismissed when his ambitious inside out punt off Jayant Behera found Deepak Behera at deep extra cover
DH News Service
Brief scores: KSCA Colts: 204 in 91.1 overs & 261/3 in 73.1 overs (Abhishek Reddy 90, Sanjay Kumar 75 n.o., N Bharath 45) vs Odisha CA: 214 all out in 92.5 overs (Girija Rout 41; David Mathias 5-65).
Other scores: In Alur (1): KSCA XI: 550/5 in 120 overs vs Jharkhand CA: 291/4 in 95.2 overs (Saurabh Tiwary 110 batting, Bhavik Thakar 59 batting; K Gowtham 2-81). Play called off due to rain at 2.30 pm
In Alur (2): Bengal: 262 all out in 79.4 overs vs KSCA President’s XI: 284/3 in 84.4 overs. Day’s play abandoned due to overnight rain.
In Alur (3): Haryana: 448/9 in 120 overs and 81/4 in 24.3 overs (Sunny Singh 52 batting; Saurya Sanadiya 3-22) vs Saurashtra Cricket Association: 217 all out in 75.2 overs (Arpit Vasavada 35; Arhish Hooda 3-36, Jayant Yadav 2-47). Play called off due to rain 2.30 p.m.
In BGS (T): Tripura Cricket Association: 190 all out in 96.1 overs and 74 for 3 in 37.3 overs (KB Pawan 32 retired hurt; Shahid 2-22) vs Kerala Cricket Association: 331 all out in 97.4 overs (Jagadeesh VA 127; Abhijith 5-33, Rana Dutt 2-76).
In Aditya Global: Goa Cricket Association: 362 all out in 111.4 overs (Amit Yadav 98, Rohit Asnodjar 91; Raman Chahar 3-35, RIturaj Singh 3-35) vs Rajasthan Cricket Association: 18/0 in 6.3 overs. Play called off due to rain at 2.30 pm.
In SJCE: Assam CA: 309 all out in 108.4 overs vs Andhra Cricket Association: 234 for 5 in 82 overs (N Jyothi Sai Krishna 39, Mub Sriram 35 batting; Arup Das 2-54). Pay called off due to rain at 3.30 pm.
In Gangothri Glades: KSCA Secretary’s XI: 177 all out in 83.5 overs vs Baroda Cricket Association: 274 all out in 96.1 overs (Hardik Pandya 67; Parappa Mordi 4-65, Anirudh Joshi 2-17). Play called off due to rain at 3.30 pm.