Dr. (Capt.)K. Thimmappiah Memorial Tournament 2019, Round 3 results: KSCA XI seal a spot in the semifinals; Manan Vohra's 353 goes in vain for DY Patil Cricket Academy
On the back of a fine century from Shreyas Gopal in the first innings and a mesmerizing double century from Abhishek Reddy in the second essay, KSCA XI earned a spot in the semifinals of the 2019 Dr.(Capt).K. Thimmappiah Memorial Tournament.
David Mathias' handy contribution of a 185-ball 87 also built a platform for KSCA XI to put up 375 on the board after being put into bat before Jagdeesha Suchith's 4/80 strangled the middle order and lower middle order of the Cricket Association of Bengal to hand his team a comfortable 140-run lead.
KSCA XI notched up 478 in their second innings, setting an improbable target of 619 for CAB to get as the visitors finished with 82/4, and in the process handed three important points to the hosts that took them to the top of the points table from Group A.
Here are some of the other results from the last league stage round of the competition.
Mumbai Cricket Association v KSCA Colts at KINI Sports Ground
Raunak Sharma's 145-ball 113 and half-centuries from skipper Eknath Kerkar (99), Shashank Attarde (52) and Akarshit Gomel (66) guided Mumbai Cricket Association to 418 in the first innings.
KSCA Colts made a bright start with openers Devdutt Padikkal (54) and Abheet Kuthpady (57) notching up half-centuries but with the middle order throwing away starts, the Colts folded for just 302 on the board as MCA took away a 116-run lead.
Brief scores: Mumbai Cricket Association (418/9 and 113/7) took a first innings lead over KSCA Colts (302).
Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association v Kerala Cricket Association at Bala Gangadharanatha Swamy School Ground
Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) and Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) battled in a low-scoring encounter with both teams scoring totals of less than 250 from both of their innings as in the end, HPCA registered a massive 215-run win courtesy of match figures of 8/90 from right-arm medium pacer Kanwar Abhinay.
Brief scores: Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (208 and 237/8 dec) beat Kerala Cricket Association (145 and 86) by 215 runs.
KSCA Presidents XI v Jharkhand Cricket State Association at SDNRW Ground.
The KSCA Presidents XI took on Jharkhand State Cricket Association as skipper Pavan Deshpande put Jharkhand into bat first. The move proved rich dividends as Vyshak Vijaykumar's searing pace saw the pacer finish with figures of 6/23 as the opposition was bowled out for just 141 on the board.
Although the Presidents XI were reduced to 82/5 with the top five back in the hut, a composed knock from wicket-keeper Nihal Ullal (53) got his team back on track before a crucial 101-run partnership between Ritesh Bhatkal (71) and Prithviraj (40) helped their team to 261.
Jharkhand responded well through Utkarsh Singh (119), Supriyo Chakraborthy (52) and Sourabh Tiwari (73), but in the end, the first innings lead sufficed to hand the Presidents XI three points in their kitty.
Brief scores: KSCA Presidents XI (261 and 10/0) took a first innings lead over Jharkhand State Cricket Association (141 and 366/9).
Andhra Cricket Association v Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association at SJCE, Mysore.
Andhra Cricket Association went up against Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) in both the teams' last league stage encounters. MPCA were coming into this contest on the back of two wins and needed anything but a loss to go through to the semifinals.
ACA, on the other hand, needed a win for a spot in the semifinals and knowing this fact, put MPCA into bat. The move worked as the latter were skittled out for just 219. With a low total on the board, MPCA's new ball duo of Piyush Gurjer and Ravi Yadav ran riot that saw ACA reeling at 56/6 with the lower order exposed early.
However, Shoaib Mohd Khan's timely century, a 151-ball 104 coming in at No.8 along with handy contributions from D Swaroop Kumar (27) and KV Sasikanth (19) gave their side an important 20-run first innings lead.
Shoaib Khan came back to pulverize the MPCA batsmen as he finished with figures of 5/29 that set ACA a relatively easy target of 145 runs to win. Despite a scare at 93/4, ACA held on to register a five-wicket win and staked their spot in the semifinals.
Brief scores: Andhra Cricket Association (239 and 150/5) beat Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (219 and 164) by five wickets.
KSCA Secretarys XI v Bangladesh Cricket Board XI at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium
KSCA Secretarys XI locked horns with the visiting Bangladesh Cricket Board XI (BCB) as the latter opted to field on winning the toss at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Shohidul Islam wrecked havoc early in the contest as his 5/20 bowled out the hosts for just 79.
In reply, half-centuries from skipper Nurul Hossain (68), Najmul Hossain (72) and Shadman Islam (59) overshadowed a four-wicket haul from Anand Doddamani as BCB XI finished with 334 on the board, with a first innings lead of 255.
Facing a massive deficit, the hosts needed a special knock which came in the form of a century from Abhinav Manohar (117) but despite his effort and half-centuries from Praveen Dubey (55) and Vinay Sagar (59), they finished on 340, setting BCB XI 86 runs to win.
The openers made short work of the chase as Shadman Islam notched up his second half-century of the game that led his team to a comfortable 10-wicket victory in the end.
Brief scores: Bangladesh Cricket Board XI (334 and 86/0) beat KSCA Secretarys XI (79 and 340) by 10 wickets.
Team Rajasthan v Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh at Just Cricket Ground
Chhattisgarh captain Jivanjot Singh won the toss and opted to field as the Rajasthan batsmen were put to the grind early. The openers fell for single digit scores before skipper Mahipal Lomror's 46 and vital half-centuries from Ashok Menaria (67) and Shubham (63) took their team a respectable total of 246.
Chhattisgarh opener Rishabh Tiwari anchored the reply with a well-crafted 142-ball 86 and along with him, Amandeep Khare (59) and Punit Datey (78) guided their team to an important 135-run lead.
Needing to get atleast over 136 to set a target for Chhattisgarh, the Rajasthan batsem failed to get going as Veerpratap Singh's 4/28 and 3/16 from Punit Datey restricted the opposition to just 88, as Chhattisgarh stormed into the semifinals courtesy of an innings and 47 run win.
Brief scores: Chhattisgarh State Cricket(381) beat Team Rajasthan (246 and 88) by an innings and 47 runs.
Dr. DY Patil Cricket Academy v Vidarbha Cricket Association at Alur -3 (Silver Oval)
DY Patil Cricket Academy skipper Naushad Shaikh won the toss and opted to bat first. Vidarbha's Yash Thakur removed Hardik Tamore and Aman Khan early on but Manan Vohra continued to wage a battle.
Naushad Shaikh went back to the hut soon but in company of Shubham Ranjane (45) and centurion Sarfaraz Khan (105), Vohra continued on his merry ways. At the end of the innings, Vohra smashed his personal record as he went on to finish with an unbeaten 456-ball 353 laced with 31 fours and 13 sixes, his 229-run partnership with Iqbal Abdullah (101) taking their side to a dominating score of 704/7.
The Vidarbha batsmen did make starts as three of the batsmen went on the score half-centuries, but in the end, Mukesh Choudhary's 5/80 and Iqbal Abdullah's 3/112 restricted Vidarbha to just 385.
With a massive 319-run lead, the DY Patil Cricket Academy batsmen were given yet another hit with Sarfaraz Khan scoring yet another hundred, a 137-ball 100 that saw the match end with DPCA pocketing three points courtesy of a first innings lead.
Brief scores: DY Patil Cricket Academy (704/7 dec.and 229/5) took a first innings lead against Vidarbha Cricket Association (385).
Upcoming fixtures
Semifinal 1: KSCA XI v Andhra Cricket Association, 28th July at Alur - 2 (Golden Oval)
Semifinal 2: Bangladesh Cricket Board XI v Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh, 28th July at Alur - 1 (Platinum Oval)