Chandrasekar scores double ton as Pistons tightens grip

Incidentally, it was after seven years a batsman scored a double century against holders Vijay CC, after Rajagopal Sathish of Jolly Rovers (226) achieved the feat in May 2010. 

Resuming from its overnight score of 257/4, India Pistons rode on Chandrasekar’s brilliance and by the time stumps were drawn on a humid day, Pistons walked off having one foot in what would be its maiden Elite group final appearance. 

Resuming from his overnight score of 88, Chandrasekar faced 439 balls and hit 17 fours and four sixes as Vijay CC bowlers spent the entire day chasing the red cherry to all parts of the MA Chidambaram Stadium. 

Starting cautiously, Chandrasekhar put on 77 runs for the sixth wicket with skipper M Prabhu (25 off 124 balls) and further added 54 runs off 168 balls for the eighth wicket with Maan K Bafna (16 off 97 balls) to give his team the upper hand. 

Chandrasekhar got to his double century with a heave over deep midwicket and later admitted that forcing the fourth day’s play was of prime importance once he started batting with the tailenders. “We wanted to stretch the game to day four as we would be gifting the match if we lose all our wickets before close of play on Wednesday. 

We obviously didn’t want them to score 260-odd runs in 90 overs and walk away with the match. Hence, caution was the key in my approach and I am happy to have helped my team’s cause,” Chandrasekhar said at the end of the day’s play.  The right-hander admitted that the wicket was conducive to the batsmen. 

“It was flat and the main challenge was battling the humidity. I was almost drained out soon and needed a lot of fluids to keep myself going,” Chandrasekhar explained. 

For Vijay CC, L Vignesh and Rahil S Shah were the pick of the lot with the ball returning figures of 3/58 and 3/128 respectively. 

In the second semi-final at the SSN College Grounds between Jolly Rovers and Alwarpet CC, J Syed Mohammed scored 149 (258 balls, 16 fours, four sixes) as Jolly Rovers scored 369 in their first innings. In reply, Alwarpet ended the second day at 122/4 with M Kamalesh holding fort with an unbeaten 63 off 112 balls.

Brief scores: India Pistons 458/9 in 180 overs (Ganapathi Chandrasekhar 212*, V Ganga Sridhar Raju 105, L Vignesh 3/58, Rahil S Shah 3/128) vs Vijay CC. Jolly Rovers 369 in 124.3 overs (J Syed Mohammed 149, M Kaushik Gandhi 72) vs Alwarpet CC 122/4.