Rain affects South Zone Varsity matches

The inclement weather prevailing over the past few days in Chennai played havoc with the conduct of the South Zone inter-university cricket tournament, which commenced on Thursday. Every match was affected by rain and no play at all was possible in one game.

Pondicherry defeated Sri Venkateswara by six wickets at the University Union grounds. Batting first, Sri Venkateswara were shot out for 122 in 25 overs. Only three batsmen - Netaji (20), AN Prasad (20) and Chwodhury (21) - reached double digits. Pondicherry then coasted to victory for the loss of four wickets in 23.1 overs.

In a rain affected match at the Pachaiyappa's college ground, NTR (Health) defeated NG Ranga (Agri) by 53 runs. Put in to bat, NTR (Health) scored 127 for six in 19 overs. The innings, reduced to 25 overs because of rain, was reduced further. Chasing a victory target of 128 in 25 overs, NG Ranga (Agri) were skittled out for 74 runs in 21 overs.

At the Sree Ramachandra Medical college grounds in Porur, Sree Viswesvaraiah beat Sree Ramachandra Medical by 57 runs. Batting first, Sree Viswesvaraiah scored 165 for six in 25 overs. Opener Aditya (70) was in fine form and with Kaushik (36) put on 90 runs for the first wicket. In reply, Sree Ramachandra Medical were all out for 108 in 25 overs. Only Venkatesh (34) and Ashok (38) reached double digits. The two added 65 runs for the fifth wicket.

In a low scoring match at the Stanley Medical grounds, Krishna Devarayar defeated National Law School by three wickets. National Law School were all out for 93 in 30 overs with Somnath top scoring with an unbeaten 33. Krishna Devarayar reached their target in 22.4 overs losing seven wickets in the process.

No play was possible in the match between Gandhigram and Kerala Agricultural at the RKM Vivekananda college grounds. The umpires made three inspections before calling off play at 12 noon. Gandhigram advanced by the spin of the coin.