India Pistons register first victory of season

The fourth round of matches in the TNCA senior division league saw a number of fine individual batting and bowling performances, keen duels for the first innings lead and the first outright victory of the season being registered.

To India Pistons went the honour of scoring the first win of the season when they overwhelmed Southern Railway by an innings and 37 runs on the latter's ground. Opting to bat first, Southern Railway were shot out for 99 runs. I Malhotra at No 9 was the top scorer with 19. Opening bowler Sahabuddin was the wrecker-in-chief taking seven for 38 including a hat-trick. India Pistons in reply rattled up 301 for seven declared after only 53 overs. Openers JA Goerge (21) and Vikram Rathour (63) gave them a rousing start by putting on 81 runs off 17 overs. A middle order collapse saw them slump to 145 for five. However Hemanth Kumar and skipper Robin Singh turned the innings around with a sixth wicket partnership of 138 runs off only 16.2 overs. Robin dominated the proceedings hitting 94 off just 56 balls with 13 fours and three sixes. When he declared the innings closed, Hemanth Kumar was unconquered on 65 made off 86 balls with five hits to the ropes. Southern Railway fared slightly better in the second innings but were all out for 165. Opener P Satish top scored with 30 while spinners WD Balaji Rao (3 for 46) and Sunil Subramaniam (4 for 37) did the main damage.

An intense duel for the first innings lead which however proved inconclusive, highlighted the proceedings in the match between Globe Trotters and Alwarpet CC at the MAC stadium. Put in to bat, Globe Trotters declared their first innings at 330 for seven after 80.4 overs. A swashbuckling 107 by opener Ashish Kapoor was the main highlight. The former Indian player batted a shade over three hours, faced 141 balls and hit 14 fours and two sixes. He and Rajath Bhatia (69) added 106 runs for the third wicket off 25.4 overs. Late in the innings, Thiru Kumaran slammed an unbeaten 41 off 68 balls with four boundaries and a six, sharing with Tanseer Jabbar (19) an unbroken partnership of 53 runs for the eighth wicket off 10.5 overs. Alwarpet were given a good start by openers Lakshmi Kumar (42) and Vikram Kumar (60) who put on 89 runs off 33.2 overs. Thereafter wickets fell at regular intervals but Arjan Kripal Singh stood firm. The 31-year-old former State batsman, who came in at 121 for three, played some fine strokes but Alwarpet, at 191 for seven, were precariously placed. But Arjan and skipper J Ramdoss (9) added 50 runs for the eighth wicket off 14 overs. A further 27 runs were put on for the ninth wicket with SS Sawal (12) and finally Arjan and last man KS Veerannan (18) kept the Globe Trotters bowling at bay for 10 overs while stretching the score by 37 runs. Alwarpet at close were 305 for nine with Arjan remaining unbeaten with a gallant 97. He batted 223 minutes, faced 162 balls and hit 15 fours and a six.

Another exciting tussle for the first innings lead which remained inconclusive came about in the match between IOB and Kohinoor at the AC Tech grounds. Opting to bat first, IOB were all out for 270. They did not exactly build up on a good start and a sound middle order which saw them at one stage 230 for four. Openers Vikram Mani (36) and top scorer AS Pathak (88) put on 73 runs off 31.3 overs. Pathak who was fourth out at 166, batted nearly three hours, faced 129 balls and hit nine fours and a six. Spinners Venkatpathi Raju and Sanjay Satpathy and medium pacer S Mahesh all took three wickets. Kohinoor were given a great start by openers Ravindar John and skipper S Ramesh who put on 152 runs off 45.2 overs. After John fell for 64, Ramesh carried on till he was second out at 181 for 101, for which he faced 147 balls, hitting eight fours and a six. Thereafter S Nair and KN Ananthapadmanabhan caused a collapse and with wickets falling at regular intervals, Kohinoor were probably a bit fortunate in ending up with 254 for eight, though a watchful unbeaten 34 by B Attauar proved quite valuable. While Nair took four for 67, Anantha finished with three for 82.

A dogged show in the second innings helped Indian Bank salvage two points from their match against Jolly Rovers at the IIT-Chemplast ground. Batting first, Jolly Rovers had to fight hard for runs before declaring their innings at 246 for eight off 90 overs. Half centuries by S Badrinath (50) and Jatin Paranjpe (56) were the highlights. Indian Bank found it much harder to get runs and were dismissed in 33 overs for 85. Skipper Diwakar Vasu was quite unplayable and finished with the remarkable figures of 12-5-8-4. Following on 161 runs behind, Indian Bank played out 56 overs to get 96 for five. Opener K Srinath (53) batted nearly three hours, faced 142 balls and hit five boundaries.

State batsman S Sharath continued his good form by scoring 91 as Vijay CC easily took first innings points against Mambalam Mosquitos at the Guru Nanak college grounds. Put in to bat, Mambalam Mosquitos were all out for 187. Even this total represented a sort of recovery for they were 107 for seven before S Chandramouli, at No 9, cracked an unbeaten 47 to help stretch the score. Medium pacer J Gokulakrishna was the wrecker-in-chief taking six wickets for 44 runs. Vijay CC in reply declared their first innings at 276 for nine. Former India player VB Chandrasekhar gave them a rousing start by hitting 70 off 117 balls with seven fours and two sixes. The rest of the innings was dominated by the left handed Sharath who faced 108 balls and hit eleven of them to the ropes. Mambalam Mosquitos, 89 runs behind on the first innings, were 76 for five wickets off 33 overs when stumps were finally drawn.

After a keen duel, UFCC (T) took the first innings lead against SPIC at the SPIC-YMCA ground. Opting to bat first, UFCC (T) struggled for runs on the first day before they were all out for 222. Off spinner B Ramprakash bowled accurate and penetratively and was amply rewarded. He sent down 41.2 overs and picked up seven wickets for 75 runs. Opener JJ Honeymen (42) was the top scorer. SPIC were given a good start with openers LNP Reddy (46) and MP Sorab (36) putting on 62 runs off 17 overs. The top order then consolidated and at 155 for three, SPIC were well placed. Then Dev Anand and Syed Meraj got among the wickets and six wickets fell for the addition of only 19 runs. From 174 for nine, the last wicket pair of R Arvind and S Kannan pushed the score past the 200 mark to raise SPIC hopes but at 205 after they had played out 14 overs, Arvind was out to Meraj for 21, leaving Kannan undefeated on 15. Meraj finished with five for 65.