Bengaluru: Sadiq Kirmani’s counter-attacking century saved Vice-President’s XI the ignominy of defeat as they snatched a draw against President’s XI in the Safi Darashah tournament at the Alur (2) grounds on Wednesday.
In reply to President’s XI massive 412 for 7, VP XI, resuming at 31/1, were sent crashing to 117 in 40.5 overs as the returning Ronit More (3-29), Shreyas Gopal (3-8) and Gowtham K (3-16) struck repeatedly.
In deficit by 295 runs and with their backs to the wall, VP XI, following-on, survived a potential embarrassment as Kirmani’s 102 (111b) with 18 boundaries and one six coupled with Zeeshan Sayyed’s unbeaten 50 saw them hold fort as they ended the match at 252 for eight. Gopal (3-74) and More (2-31) were again in the thick of things but VP XI held on with President’s XI garnering three points for the innings lead.
Brief scores:
At Alur (2): President’s XI: 412 for 7 in 90 overs drew with Vice President’s XI: 117 all out in 40.5 overs (Prateeksh R 31, Praveen Dubey 26, Ronit More 3/29, Gowtham K 3/16, Shreyas Gopal 3/8) and 2nd Innings: 252 for 8 in 65 overs (Pavan Deshpande 38, Sadiq Kirmani 102, Zeeshan Ali Sayyed 50 n.o., Ronit More 2/31, Shreyas Gopal 3/74)
President’s XI: 3 Points and VP XI: 1 Point
At Alur (3): Combined XI: 175 all out in 70.3 overs and 2nd Innings: 68 for 4 in 21 overs (Mitrakant Singh Yadav 3/29) drew with Bangalore Zone: 264 all out in 86.2 overs (Nishith Raj 44, Abhinav Manohar 70, Aditya Somanna 60 n,o., Prateek Jain 2/42, Naveen MG 3/18, Abrar Kazi 2/66)
Bangalore Zone: 3 Points and Combined XI: 1 Point
