Coimbatore
After a good fightback the other day, TNCA President’s XI went down by 70 runs to a cocky-looking Chhattisgarh side on the final day of the all-India Buchi Babu invitational cricket tournament at the Sri Ramakrishna Institutions grounds here on Wednesday.
It’s always challenging playing on a day four surface. But knocking off 171 with six wickets in hand wasn’t a difficult task given the quality of the host’s batting line-up.
Skipper Vijay Shankar (80, 120b, 7×4, 2×6), who looked scratchy in the last couple of innings, finally found his touch.
With Mohammed Ali (52, 97b, 4×4, 2×6) to give him company, he played it safe for some time. He soon realised that being defensive was not the best option and chose to attack. It clicked as the duo raised their respective half-centuries and, with it, brought about their century stand.
The road to victory looked smooth at this juncture but off-spinner Jivesh Bhutte trapped Mohammed in front and V.P. Diran, who came in next, ran himself out to a smart throw by substitute Sangeet Soni to give the visitor a ray of hope.
With 86 required and enough time on the clock to cross the line, the host batters could have played patiently but went into T20 mode and paid the price.
“We recovered well from 31 for four and tried our best till the end. Batting in the middle wasn’t easy but we could have done a lot better. We did not want to play too defensively for long and went for the shots. But overall, it was a good learning experience,” said Vijay Shankar after the match.
The scores (final day):
At Coimbatore: Chhattisgarh 270 & 202 bt TNCA President’s XI 208 & 194 in 60.4 overs (Vijay Shankar 80, S. Mohammed Ali 52, Jivesh Butte 4/52). Points: Chhattisgarh 6(12), TNCA President’s XI 0(3).
Player-of-the-match: S. Ajith Ram (TNCA President’s XI).