Pradosh Ranjan Paul was on song again, scoring a quickfire unbeaten 110, as Tirupur registered a five-wicket win over Coimbatore in the quarterfinals of the under-14 inter-district cricket tournament at the SNR Sons College grounds here on Saturday.
Batting first, Coimbatore took some time to settle down before posting 181 for nine in its allotted 50 overs. But the in-form skipper Ranjan Paul, who struck an unbeaten 235 against Pudukottai last week, shattered the hopes of the host with his splendid effort, which came off just 99 balls and contained 13 hits to the fence.
Ricky shinesAn allround performance by S. Ricky Praveen (106 & three for 33) enabled defending champion Kancheepuram crush host Dharmapuri by 242 runs. K. Govind Sharma (87 & four for 19) played an equally good role.
Salem, which enjoyed a fine run to the quarterfinal, floundered this time around to host Tiruchi. The host held its nerve to pull off a one-wicket win and, with it, sealed its place into the semifinals.
The scores (Quarterfinals):
At Coimbatore: Coimbatore 181 for nine in 50 overs (K. Adithya Vikram 33, Niyant N. Shah 35, P. Nirmal Kumar 37, K.S. Suganth three for 43) lost to Tirupur 182 for five in 36.1 overs (Pradosh Ranjan Paul 110 n.o.).
At Udhagamandalam: Vellore 86 in 37 overs (E. Surender three for 23, L. Nijin Shaji three for 23) lost to Nilgiris 87 for four in 30.2 overs.
At Dharmapuri: Kancheepuram 364 for eight in 50 overs (S. Ricky Praveen 106, K. Govind Sharma 87, G.R. Nittin 44) bt Dharmapuri 122 in 37.2 overs (T. Udhayanithi 35, K. Govind Sharma four for 19, S. Ricky Praveen three for 33).
At Tiruchi: Salem 141 for nine in 50 overs (M.S. Jeganath 65) lost to Tiruchi 142 for nine in 47.4 overs (R. Ajaykumar 26, S. Nithin Balaji four for 18, S. Sanjay three for 40).
