Grand Slam took the first-innings lead after a tense pursuit of Young Stars’ 398 and Piyush Chawla saved Jolly Rovers’ blushes against IOB, as the eighth round of the TNCA first-division league cricket drew to close here on Wednesday.
L. Suryapprakash, with 116 (250b, 10x4), and Sunny Kumar Singh, with an unbeaten 59 from 35 balls (3x4, 4x6), were instrumental in Grand Slam edging past Young Stars with one wicket to spare in the day’s last mandatory over. Sreekumar Nair (80) and Dinesh Karthik (60) were the other contributors. At IIT-Chemplast, Rovers was struggling at 150 for five after opener M. Vijay’s 67. The left-handed Chawla walked in at six and scored 154 in 153 balls with 18 fours and four sixes to rescue his side.
Although Chawla was dismissed with two overs remaining in the day, his 161-run partnership with Gowjith Subash (42) for the sixth wicket was enough to deny IOB the lead. Rovers ended on 344 for eight in response to IOB’s 490 for eight declared. With the first innings unfinished, the points were shared.
Rohith hits century again
Wicketkeeper R. Rohith made his second successive hundred (113 n.o., 189b, 11x4) and captain S. Suresh Kumar scored his third of the season (102, 129b, 12x4, 2x6), as Vijay totalled 244 for four in reply to India Pistons’ 392 for eight declared. But with two sessions of the second day lost to the weather, the teams had to settle for three points each.
X. Thalaivan Sargunam helped himself to an unbeaten 100 (174b, 8x4, 3x6) against UFCC (T. Nagar) at MRF-Pachaiyappa’s. Globe Trotters was already assured of five points, and the game petered out.
Alwarpet survived a second-innings collapse to salvage five points from its match against Aruna. Dismissed for 147, Alwarpet defended a target of 219 in 26 overs.
Indian Bank gave a better account of itself in the second innings against TI Cycles, with R. Ananth (70) and T. Selvaganapathy (86 n.o.) contributing to a score of 247 for three. But it made no difference to the distribution of points: TI gained five for the first-innings lead.
The league will take a break – the players will be engaged in domestic tournaments during this period – before resuming at a later date.
The scores (round eight, final day): At SRMC: Young Stars 398 drew with Grand Slam 402 for nine in 111.2 overs (Sreekumar Nair 80, L. Suryapprakash 116, Dinesh Karthik 60, Sunny Kumar Singh 59 n.o.). Points: GS 5, YS 2.
At Murugappa: Indian Bank 213 and 247 for three in 81 overs (R. Ananth 70, I. Sivaraman 44, T. Selvaganapathy 86 n.o.) drew with TI Cycles 332. Points: TI 5, IB 2.
At MRF-Pachaiyappa’s: Globe Trotters 406 and 205 for three decl. in 61.4 overs (X. Thalaivan Sargunam 100 n.o.) drew with UFCC (T. Nagar) 238. Points: GT 5, UFCC 2.
At CPT-IP: India Pistons 392 for eight decl. in 162 overs (R. Varun 64, R. Vishnu 43, S. Avaikkarasan 60, Shravan Krishnan 95, A.C. Prathiban 51 n.o., S. Suresh Kumar four for 94) vs. Vijay 244 for four in 60 overs (R. Rohith 113 n.o., S. Suresh Kumar 102). Points IP 3, Vijay 3.
At RKM-Viveka: Alwarpet 239 and 147 in 54.5 overs (Garry Anthony Dumenil 43 n.o., Deepak Singh four for 54) drew with Aruna 168 in 70.2 overs and 153 for five in 26 overs (R. Vivek 45). Points: Alwarpet 5, Aruna 2.
At IIT-Chemplast: IOB 490 for eight decl. drew with Jolly Rovers 344 for eight in 101 overs (M. Vijay 67, Anand Subramanian 46, Piyush Chawla 154, Gowjith Subash 42). Points: IOB 3, JR 3.
Points position (after eight rounds): Trotters 41, Rovers 33, Alwarpet 32, Grand Slam 32, Vijay 32, Young Stars 32, IOB 30, UFCC 28, Pistons 27, TI 25, Aruna 14, Indian Bank 8.
Keywords: TNCA first-division league cricket
