Snubbed by selectors, Mayank hammers 183 as Evergreen and EMCC final finely poised

Mayank Gupta, who was dropped from Hyderabad Under-23 team three days ago, showed great resilience to bounce back from the setback. In the process, he also let his willow talk back to the selectors, who showed a distinct lack of faith in his abilities.

On Friday, Mayank hammered 183 to put Evergreen, who had conceded a 16-run lead to EMCC, back in the A Division (2-day) League Championship final. Mayank made 183 to add to his 70 he scored in the first innings. His 183 came off 270 balls with 16 fours and a six. He was ably supported by G Aniketh Reddy, who was unlucky to miss out on the three-figure mark by just two runs. Chandan Sahani too made good use of the opportunity to help himself to 87.

M Rithvik took three for 73 for EMCC, who made a spirited chase. By stumps on the third day, EMCC were 143 for one with CP Venkatesh batting on 69 and S Rohith Reddy giving him company on 35. EMCC need 273 more to win the game and have nine wickets in hand. It could be anyone’s game, but EMCC have shown the intent to chase down the target. Evergreen, on the other hand, are no pushovers and with the likes of Aniketh Reddy in their ranks, they will be out to assert their domination.

Brief scores: Evergreen 247 in 57.2 overs & 431/7 in 90 overs (Mayank Gupta 183, G Aniketh Reddy 98, Chandan Sahani 87; M Rithvik 3/74) vs EMCC 263 in 78.4 overs & 143/1 in 30 overs (CP Venkatesh 69 batting, S Rohith Reddy 35 batting).