Chemplast, India Pistons enter semifinals

Two senior division league teams from Chennai, Chemplast and India Pistons entered the semifinals of the KSCA Diamond Jubilee All India invitation tournament for the Coromandel Cement Trophy at Bangalore on Monday.

KSCA XI, who got a bye into the quarterfinals, were beaten by India Pistons by five wickets at the M Chinnaswamy stadium, while Chemplast defeated BPL by six wickets at the RSI grounds.

KSCA XI, opting to bat, were restricted to 183 for seven in 50 overs. They lost Shyam Ponappa early but the other opener Prajwalraj (37) and KN Ramesh (26) steadied the innings with a second wicket partnership of 60 runs off 16.5 overs. There was however a middle order collapse and KSCA XI were 95 for five before Rajasekhar Shanbal (45 not out) and AR Mahesh (37) staged a recovery with a sixth wicket stand of 70 runs off 15.3 overs. But the final KSCA XI total was still disappointing.

India Pistons were given a sound start with Anand George (30) and Vikram Rathour (26) putting on 43 runs off 10 overs. Then George and Satyajit Medappa took the score to 79 before the former was out. KSCA XI seemed to be coming back into the game when Hemanth Kumar, Pankaj Dharmani and R Satish all fell in a heap and India Pistons slumped to 113 for five in the 32nd over. Midway through the innings there was a rain delay of 28 minutes and this revised the India Pistons target to 158 runs off 43 overs. Medappa, playing a watchful knock and the aggressive Reuben Paul however saw India Pistons through in 39.2 overs. Medappa, who was the man of the match, remained unbeaten with 51 off 80 balls with the help of five fours and a six. Paul slammed 22 off 28 balls with one six.

In the other match, a first wicket partnership of 92 runs between S Ganesh Kumar (55) and S Badrinath (65) highlighted Chemplast's victory.

Put in to bat, BPL were all out for 210 in 49.4 overs. They made a bad start losing their openers with only 44 runs on the board. But Kunal More (47) and Yere Goud (57) got the innings back on track by adding 71 runs for the third wicket off 17.4 overs. The recovery process was maintained with Goud and RS Rawat (23) increasing the score by 52 runs in a fourth wicket association which lasted 12 overs. The rest of the batsmen however could not build upon this good start and with D Vasu and L Balajee doing most of the damage, BPL lost their last seven wickets for 43 runs off 11.3 overs.

Chemplast started their reply on a confident note with Ganesh Kumar and Badrinath sharing their fruitful stand which lasted 20.3 overs. Ganesh Kumar dominated the partnership getting his 55 off just 54 balls with seven fours and a six. Badrinath and Dinesh Mongia (27) then kept up the tempo by adding 59 runs for the second wicket off 12.3 overs. A rain delay of 28 minutes midway through the innings revised the Chemplast target to 181 runs off 43 overs. The Chennai team were comfortably home in 40.4 overs. Ajay Kudva finished the game with a flourish, hitting Shreyas Kanolkar for a six. Badrinath, who faced 113 balls and hit four boundaries and six in getting the highest score, was adjudged man of the match.