da casino： On the back of a five-wicket haul from off-spinner Glen Sulzburger(5/73) New Zealand ‘A’ brushed aside MRF and entered the semi-final ofthe MRF Buchi Babu Tournament
da blaze casino： Staff Reporter22-Aug-2001On the back of a five-wicket haul from off-spinner Glen Sulzburger(5/73) New Zealand ‘A’ brushed aside MRF and entered the semi-final ofthe MRF Buchi Babu Tournament. They now play Ranji finalists IndianRailways.On a day where the heat was intense in Chennai, the visitors heldtheir nerve as MRF set about chasing an improbable score of 473 forthe first innings lead. In doing so, the home side capitulated to 318all out off 99 overs.Starting the day on 113/2, the MRF side needed over 300 runs tooverhaul the New Zealand ‘A’ score. Unbeaten on 45 overnight, skipperS Sriram managed to add just 10 runs before he became the firstcasualty of the third and final day. Former India one-day cricketerHrishikesh Kanitkar troubled the scorers very briefly, before beingdismissed for 1. At this stage MRF were struggling at 128/4.Nightwatchman T Kumaran (11) fell soon after, becoming Sulzberger’ssecond scalp of the day.Rashmi Ranjan Parida provided the visitors with a scare, scoring apatient 106, but even his knock failed to take MRF close to the NewZealand ‘A’ first innings score. The 27-year old Orissa right handbatsman struck 12 boundaries and a six in his 273 minute stay at thecrease. He remained not out till the end of the day but alas, ran outof partners.Central Districts offie Glen Sulzberger mopped up the tail, claimingthe last three wickets to fall and was easily the pick of the bowlerswith 5/73 from his 25 overs. In all, 99 overs were faced by MRF, whowere knocked out of the tournament they sponsor.* Railways enter semifinals on first innings leadA better performance in the second innings did not help NationalCricket Academy much. And Indian Railways, by virtue of their hugefirst innings lead of 348 runs entered the semifinals of the MRF BuchiBabu invitation cricket tournament at the Southern Railway stadium inChennai on Wednesday.Resuming at 451 for nine, Indian Railways were all out for 506following a last wicket partnership of 68 runs off 22 overs betweenPrahlad Rawat and SD Kannan (28). Rawat remained unbeaten with 135. Hefaced 249 balls and hit 20 fours.With the result of the match a foregone conclusion, the NCA ladsbatted freely in the second innings and when the match ended, theywere 342 for five off 76 overs. Openers Vinayak Mane (80) and GautamGambhir (19) put on 43 runs off 11 overs. Mane and Gaganinder Singh(27) added 58 runs for the second wicket off 16.1 overs. Mane wasfourth out at 169 after facing 140 balls and hitting ten fours and asix. At this stage, NCA were in some danger of losing the matchoutright. But Deep Das Gupta (57 not out) and Ajay Ratra (78) with afifth wicket partnership of 129 runs off 23.5 overs made the issuesafe. Ratra faced just 92 balls and hit eleven fours while Das Guptafaced 75 balls and hit two fours and a six. In the closing stages,left hander Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan slammed an unbeaten 37 off only 19balls with three fours and two sixes.* CAB book berth in last fourCricket Association of Bengal (CAB) booked their berth in the MRFBuchi Babu invitation tournament semi-final after putting it acrossthe Karnataka State Cricket Asssociation XI at the Guru Nanak groundsin Chennai on Wednesday.The Bengal team who were 339 for 8 on Tuesday, lasted another 4.3overs in the morning before being bowled out for 355. NC Iyappa, thepromising Karnataka fast bowler, claimed one of the two wickets tofall to end up with a five-wicket haul. The first-innings lead of 123runs that they gained was what secured CAB the match at the end of theday.KSCA decided to bat out the rest of the day making 245 for 7 in 74overs before the two captains agreed to end play at the start of themandatory overs. Opener Mithun Beerala made an attacking 63 off 87balls with eight fours and one six. Sunil Joshi, the former Indianleft-arm spinner, also had fun while making 65 off 72 balls with fourfours and three sixes. No.7 Shyam Ponnappa was the other batsman whowas among the runs, making 54 off 115 balls. For Bengal, veteran leftarm spinner Utpal Chatterjee, was the most successful bowler, claimingfour for 51 in his 16 overs.* Jolly Rovers to meet CABThe All India Associate Banks batsmen dominated the final day’s playin the MRF Buchi Babu tournament quarter-final at the IIT-Chemplastgrounds on Wednesday but it was Jolly Rovers who made it to thesemifinal by virtue of their first innings lead. Rovers will now takeon CAB at IIT-Chemplast from August 24-26.In the morning, the Rovers last wicket pair of L Balaji (34) and JSathish (15) added 35 runs as their team, 269 for nine overnight,reached 304 before being all out, a first-innings lead of 57. Thebankmen decided to bat out the day rather than going for an improbablewin. No.4 Pankaj Dharmani made an attacking hundred, his unbeaten 111coming off 151 balls with fifteen fours and one six. This wasDharmani’s second hundred in the tournament. He had earlier made acentury against the Tamil Nadu Districts XI in their first roundmatch. Opener JP Yadav too was among the runs, his 71 off 88 ballsincluding ten fours and one six. S Mohan was not out on 42 off 102balls with four fours at the other end at close. AIAB at the end ofthe match were 281 for three in 71 overs in their second innings.
