CHENNAI: In a match where bowlers called the shots with 15 wickets falling on Day one, Alwarpet’s seasoned off-spinner Jalaj Saxena stood out with his spectacular haul of seven for 58, his sixth fifer of the season, against UFCC (T Nagar) in the semi-finals of the TNCA First Division League here on Tuesday.
Opting to bowl first, Alwarpet bundled out UFCC for 143. UFCC’s V Maaruthi Raghav offered a semblance of resistance scoring 49 to help his team cross the 100-run mark. Alwarpet’s medium pacer R Rohit took two wickets for 31. Alwarpet batters, too, found the going tough losing five wickets for 84, still trailing by 59 runs. Skipper S Rithik Easwaran was batting on 32. UFCC’s two left-arm spinners Dharmendra Jadeja (2/21) and B Aaditya (2/27) shared four wickets between them.
In another clash, Jolly Rovers reached 310 for six against Vijay CC with Dhruv Shorey contributing 68 (140b, 84). Opener G Ajitesh scored 52 (132b, 9x4). Skipper B Indrajith continued his good form, scoring 57 (104b, 7x4). Shorey and Indrajith added 96 runs for the fourth wicket in 169 balls. Vijay’s left-arm medium pacer Gurjapneet Singh scalped three wickets for 74 runs.
BRIEF SCORES: SF: Jolly Rovers 310/6 in 90 overs (G Ajitesh 52, Dhruv Shorey 68, B Indrajith 57, R Sathish 27 batting, R Sonu Yadav 38 batting, Gurjapneet Singh 3/74) vs Vijay; UFCC (T Nagar) 143 in 52.2 overs (V Maaruthi Raghav 49, Jalaj Saxena 7/58) vs Alwarpet 84/5 in 32 overs (S Rithik Easwaran 32 batting, Dharmendra Jadeja 2/21, B Aaditya 2/27)