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 of
the MRF Buchi Babu Tournament
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 of
the MRF Buchi Babu Tournament. They now play Ranji finalists Indian
Railways.On a day where the heat was intense in Chennai, the visitors held
their nerve as MRF set about chasing an improbable score of 473 for
the first innings lead. In doing so, the home side capitulated to 318
all out off 99 overs.Starting the day on 113/2, the MRF side needed over 300 runs to
overhaul the New Zealand ‘A’ score. Unbeaten on 45 overnight, skipper
S Sriram managed to add just 10 runs before he became the first
casualty of the third and final day. Former India one-day cricketer
Hrishikesh Kanitkar troubled the scorers very briefly, before being
dismissed for 1. At this stage MRF were struggling at 128/4.
Nightwatchman T Kumaran (11) fell soon after, becoming Sulzberger’s
second scalp of the day.Rashmi Ranjan Parida provided the visitors with a scare, scoring a
patient 106, but even his knock failed to take MRF close to the New
Zealand ‘A’ first innings score. The 27-year old Orissa right hand
batsman struck 12 boundaries and a six in his 273 minute stay at the
crease. He remained not out till the end of the day but alas, ran out
of partners.Central Districts offie Glen Sulzberger mopped up the tail, claiming
the last three wickets to fall and was easily the pick of the bowlers
with 5/73 from his 25 overs. In all, 99 overs were faced by MRF, who
were knocked out of the tournament they sponsor.* Railways enter semifinals on first innings leadA better performance in the second innings did not help National
Cricket Academy much. And Indian Railways, by virtue of their huge
first innings lead of 348 runs entered the semifinals of the MRF Buchi
Babu invitation cricket tournament at the Southern Railway stadium in
Chennai on Wednesday.Resuming at 451 for nine, Indian Railways were all out for 506
following a last wicket partnership of 68 runs off 22 overs between
Prahlad Rawat and SD Kannan (28). Rawat remained unbeaten with 135. He
faced 249 balls and hit 20 fours.With the result of the match a foregone conclusion, the NCA lads
batted freely in the second innings and when the match ended, they
were 342 for five off 76 overs. Openers Vinayak Mane (80) and Gautam
Gambhir (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 was
fourth out at 169 after facing 140 balls and hitting ten fours and a
six. At this stage, NCA were in some danger of losing the match
outright. But Deep Das Gupta (57 not out) and Ajay Ratra (78) with a
fifth wicket partnership of 129 runs off 23.5 overs made the issue
safe. Ratra faced just 92 balls and hit eleven fours while Das Gupta
faced 75 balls and hit two fours and a six. In the closing stages,
left hander Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan slammed an unbeaten 37 off only 19
balls with three fours and two sixes.* CAB book berth in last fourCricket Association of Bengal (CAB) booked their berth in the MRF
Buchi Babu invitation tournament semi-final after putting it across
the Karnataka State Cricket Asssociation XI at the Guru Nanak grounds
in Chennai on Wednesday.The Bengal team who were 339 for 8 on Tuesday, lasted another 4.3
overs in the morning before being bowled out for 355. NC Iyappa, the
promising Karnataka fast bowler, claimed one of the two wickets to
fall to end up with a five-wicket haul. The first-innings lead of 123
runs that they gained was what secured CAB the match at the end of the
day.KSCA decided to bat out the rest of the day making 245 for 7 in 74
overs before the two captains agreed to end play at the start of the
mandatory overs. Opener Mithun Beerala made an attacking 63 off 87
balls with eight fours and one six. Sunil Joshi, the former Indian
left-arm spinner, also had fun while making 65 off 72 balls with four
fours and three sixes. No.7 Shyam Ponnappa was the other batsman who
was among the runs, making 54 off 115 balls. For Bengal, veteran leftarm spinner Utpal Chatterjee, was the most successful bowler, claiming
four for 51 in his 16 overs.* Jolly Rovers to meet CABThe All India Associate Banks batsmen dominated the final day’s play
in the MRF Buchi Babu tournament quarter-final at the IIT-Chemplast
grounds on Wednesday but it was Jolly Rovers who made it to the
semifinal by virtue of their first innings lead. Rovers will now take
on CAB at IIT-Chemplast from August 24-26.In the morning, the Rovers last wicket pair of L Balaji (34) and J
Sathish (15) added 35 runs as their team, 269 for nine overnight,
reached 304 before being all out, a first-innings lead of 57. The
bankmen decided to bat out the day rather than going for an improbable
win. No.4 Pankaj Dharmani made an attacking hundred, his unbeaten 111
coming off 151 balls with fifteen fours and one six. This was
Dharmani’s second hundred in the tournament. He had earlier made a
century against the Tamil Nadu Districts XI in their first round
match. Opener JP Yadav too was among the runs, his 71 off 88 balls
including ten fours and one six. S Mohan was not out on 42 off 102
balls with four fours at the other end at close. AIAB at the end of
the match were 281 for three in 71 overs in their second innings.
