Vasu powers Chemplast to victory over ONGC

The KSCA Diamond Jubilee Tournament saw yet another strong side from Chennai advance as Chemplast beat ONGC by 4 wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. When ONGC won the toss, skipper Vadhera opted to bat first. His decision looked like the right one when openers Gagan Khoda and Manoj Mudgal put together a 50 run opening partnership. Mudgal (31) was castled by Balajee and soon after the wickets began to fall at regular intervals.

Left arm spinner Diwakar Vasu got his act together, trapping his opposition captain LBW with the score on 76. Rizwan Shamshad and Virendra Sehwag both failed to make significant contributions. With the score on 143, Khoda, who was holding one end up was dismissed one run short of his half century. Vasu then scalped three quick wickets, getting rid of the tail. He ended with 4/36 off his 10 overs. 202 was all ONGC could muster before they were all out in the last of their allotted 50 overs.

In response, Chemplast began badly, losing Badrinath before he could open his account. Punjab cricketer Dinesh Mongia played a solid knock, making 59 in the middle order. Batting around him, Jacob Martin (27), Vasant Saravanan (32) and Ajay Kudua (36) took Chemplast to a four wicket victory with a little more than an over to spare.