Sporting XI emerge A Div (2-day) champions after beating Jai Hanuman by 227 runs in final

A Varun Goud and B Rathan Teja bowled Sporting XI to a massive 227-run win over Jai Hanuman in the final of the HCA’s A Division (2-day) League Championship at the Dr K Kondal Rao Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday.

Chasing 406 for victory, Jai Hanuman need to get off the blocks firing on all cylinders. They also needed to put up a couple of big partnerships so that they could overcome the challenge posed by the Sporting XI attack.

A Varun Goud, who had topscored for Sporting XI with an invaluable 85, took three for four runs in two overs for Sporting XI

Unfortunately, Jai Hanuman faltered on both counts and were bowled out for 178. They had a disastrous start as star player and the batter in-form M Abhirath Reddy fell without troubling the scorers.

The first and most important blow was struck by Mohammad Umar in the first over of the innings. With the fourth ball, Umar had skipper Abhirath Reddy (0) caught by Yash Satwalekar with nothing on the board.

Sporting XI put up a competitive 405 against Jai Hanuman in A Division (2-day) league final

Opener Sai Purnanand Rao K and Ananth Prateek Reddy put on the best possible partnership by the Jai Hanuman batters and it was worth 48 runs. Even as they looked to settle down, disaster struck Jai Hanuman and they never really recovered from the early blows.

Sporting XI skipper ran out Sai Purnanand for 27 which came off 51 balls with three fours. Five runs later, Anvith Reddy bowled Prateek (14) to leave Jai Hanuman reeling at 53 for three.

Budidhi Rathan Teja, who had made an unbeaten 50, finished with three for 50 for Sporting XI

Rohit Rayudu K, who waged a lone battle, then added 30 for the fourth wicket with P Arvind (13), who was caught by Yash off P Kishore Kumar.

He then added a further 32 for the fifth wicket with Shanmukha Ashwin (14), who became A Varun Goud’s first wicket after being caught by Deepanshu Chowhan.

In his next over and the 39th of the innings, Varun struck twice in succession to more or less settle the issue. He first had Akhil Kumar S (1) caught by Yash and off the next ball, he had Shaunak Kulkarni (0) caught by P Kishore Kumar.

Rathan Teja then got into the act as he trapped BK Ranganath (0) leg before.

Rohit Rayudu Kolagani was the lone Jai Hanuman batter who put up a fight. He was the last wicket to fall after making 70

Rohit Rayudu, who was watching the parade from the other end, then found a partner in Mudassar Hussain Md (2) who was willing to keep one end intact. IN Mudassar’s company, Rohit went after the Sporting XI attack and garnered 37 off 35 balls for the ninth wicket before Mudassar was caught by P Kishore Kumar off Rathan Teja. Rohit contributed 29 to the partnership.

Rathan Teja then ended the innings by halting the resistance of Rohit Rayudu by getting him stumped by Yash. Rohit’s valiant knock got him 70 off 91 balls with five fours and three sixes.

A Varun Goud, who had topscored for Sporting XI with an invaluable 85, took three for four runs in the two overs he bowled and Rathan Teja, who had made an unbeaten 50, finished with three for 50.

Wicketkeeper Yash Satwalekar, who had made 73, had another good day in the office. He took three catches and effected a stumping.

Brief scores: Sporting XI 405/8 in 90 overs beat Jai Hanuman 178 in 47.3 overs (Rohit Rayudu K 70, A Varun Goud 3/4, B Rathan Teja 3/50).

Rohit XI down Mahadev to meet Sportive in final

Rohit XI scored a comfortable 87-run win over Mahadev in the semifinals of the B Division (2-day) League Championship.

After making 245 for eight, Rohit XI kept a tight leash on the Mahadev batters, who were unable to break from the shackles imposed on them.

Mahadev were bowled out for 157 with Kushal Sheerla making 40.

K Pavavn Kumar was the most successful bowler for Rohit XI as he took four for 52.

Brief scores: Rohit XI 245/8 in 90 overs beat Mahadev 157/10 in 64.2 overs (Kushal Sheerla 40, K Pavan Kumar 4/52).