Chennai, Aug 23 (Representative) Hyderabad and Baroda registered commanding wins with a day to spare in the second round league matches on the third day of the All India Buchi Babu Cricket Tournament held at various venues in Tamil Nadu on Friday. In a Group A match at Tirunelveli, Hyderabad defeated Jharkhand by nine wickets, while Baroda thrashed Jammu and Kashmir by 287 runs in a Group D match at Natham grounds in Dindigul. In the other two league matches, TNCA President’s XI were in a strong position having taken 104 run first innings lead and scored 133 for two in the second essay against Indian Railways in a Group B Match at Salem. Railways, resuming at 185 for two, were bowled out for 355, with overnight centurion and opener Pratham Singh, adding just 39 runs on the third morning and was dismissed for 143. His partner, Mohd Saif, resuming at 43, went on to score a fine century (104, 11×4, 2×6) and extended their third wicket partnership to 212 runs, before the rest of the innings fell apart. TNCA President’s XI scored 459 in the first innings and now has an overall lead of 237 runs with eight wickets in hand and was in a good position to force an outright win.
In the other match, TNCA XI too was in a strong position having secured a 175 run first innings lead and stretched it to 352, by scoring 177 for 5 declared in the second innings against Haryana in a Group C match at Coimbatore. Chasing a daunting target of 353, Haryana, who were bowled out for 218 runs in the first innings, resuming at 182 for six, were struggling at 16 for two when stumps were drawn on the penultimate day. Skipper and left arm spinner R.Sai Kishore picked up seven wickets for TNCA XI. Brief Scores : Jharkhand 178 and 140 for nine in 49.2 overs (inngs closed) (Kumar Suraj 60, Pankaj Kumar 40, Rohith Rayudu three for 19, Tanay Thyagarajan two for 31) lost to Hyderabad 293 and 26 for one in 3.2 overs. Points : Hyderabad 6 (6) ; Jharkhand 0 (6) TNCA President’s XI 459 and 133 for two in 37 overs (S. Radhakrishnan 82, R. Vimal Khumar 33) vs Indian Railways 355 in 97 overs (Pratham Singh 143, Mohammad Saif 104, Jhathavedh Subramanyan five for 77, M. Siddharth four for 76). TNCA XI 393 and 177 for five declared in 56 overs (Pradosh Ranjan Paul 44, B.Indrajith 75 not out, Jayant Yadav three for 64) vs Haryana 218 in 78.4 overs (Dheeru Singh 74, Jayant Yadav 65, R.Sai Kishore seven for 76, S.Lakshay Jain two for 36) and 16 for two in 13 overs (R.Sai Kishore two for six). Baroda 255 and 254 bt Jammu and Kashmir 114 and 108 in 36 overs (overnight 14-0) (Mahesh Pithiya five for 49, Priyanshu Moliya three for 25). Points : Baroda 6 (6) ; J & K 0 (3).