da betobet： The Coromandel Cement Cup semifinal between KSCA XI and Chemplast XIis poised for an interesting finish
Staff Reporter10-Aug-2001The Coromandel Cement Cup semifinal between KSCA XI and Chemplast XIis poised for an interesting finish. By stumps on the second day ofthe match at the RSI ground in Bangalore on Friday, KSCA XI had takena first innings lead of 16 runs and in their second innings, after twoovers, had not opened their account.With KSCA XI having made 365 for nine in the allotted 90 overs onThursday, the onus was on Chemplast to make a fitting reply in theirfirst innings. Openers Sujith Somasundar and Ganesh Kumar (43) gavethem a sound start putting on 86 runs off 20.4 overs. Ganesh Kumarthen left after having faced 66 balls and hitting three boundaries. SBadrinath joined Somasundar and the two shared a second wicketpartnership of 112 runs off 35.2 overs. Somasunder was heading towardsa hundred when he was out for 92. He faced 169 balls and hit 12 fours.Aditya Srikkanth then joined Badrinath and they increased the score by73 runs during a third wicket association that lasted 17 overs.At 271 for two in the 73rd over, Chemplast were in a strong position.At this stage, Aditya, son of former Indian captain K Srikkanth wasbowled by David Johnson for a bright 43. He faced 56 balls and hitfour fours and two sixes. Now KSCA XI came back into the match.Johnson and off spinner Vadeyaraj got among the wickets to effect amiddle order collapse as Chemplast slid to 288 for six. Badrinathhowever stood firm and he found an able ally in J Hariesh (31) withwhom he added 51 runs for the seventh wicket off 7.3 overs. Badrinathwho had come in the 21st over, was finally out in the 87th over afterscoring 102. He faced 187 balls hitting seven fours and two sixes.Sunil Joshi them came on to polish off the tail and Chemplast were allout for 349 in 89.3 overs. Vadeyaraj was the most successful bowlerwith four for 71 while Johnson had three for 94 off 16 overs. Joshifinished with two for 51. Play was halted due to bad light at 11.48and resumed after lunch. Play was again stopped due to rain at 2 pmand resumed after six minutes.Pistons-Roofit clash interestingly poisedDespite posting a healthy score of 295 in their first innings onThursday, India Pistons found themselves on the back foot at the endof the second day’s play in their semi-final clash against Roofit XIat MJWSC ground in Bangalore. The Mumbai side notched up 331 all outin 78.3 overs, earning a first innings lead of 36 runs.It was the quick batting of Baroda opening batsman Satyajit Parab thatset the ball rolling. Scoring an 82-ball 83 (15 boundaries), Parab wasinvolved in a second wicket partnership of 95 with Mumbai southpawJatin Paranjpe. Striking the ball well, the skipper of the Roofitside, Paranjpe, made 76 (118 balls, 13 fours). Hrishesh Kanitkar’ssedate 46 in the middle order helped the Roofit side get past theIndia Pistons total. In the 79th over of the innings, Roofit XI weredismissed for 331.In the India Pistons second innings, Reetinder Sodhi followed up hisfirst innings duck with another failure. The Punjab all-rounder madejust 4 before being sent back by Gujarat seamer Rakesh Patel. SMahesh, promoted up the order was unbeaten on 23 and Hemanth Kumar had32 to his name when the second day’s play ended. India Pistons were64/1 in 11 overs and now lead by 28 runs. The second innings isrestricted to 40 overs a side.