CHENNAI: The 68th Basketball nationals for senior men and women will begin at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here from Wednesday. Defending champions Uttarakhand (men) will again start favourites but Tamil Nadu, who have undergone a strenuous 35-day camp, will be strong challengers. They are always there or thereabouts and will hope to make the transition to the top step of the podium. The hosts, in the men’s category, have been drawn with Punjab, Haryana, Indian Railways and Gujarat. Kerala are the defending women’s champions and should retain the title if form is anything to go by. Matches start on 7.00 am every day till the knockout stages begin.
Men (Level 1): Group A: Uttarakhand, Rajasthan. Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha. Group B: TN, Punjab, Haryana, Indian Railways, Gujarat; Women (Level 1): Group A: Kerala, Chhatisgarh, TN, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka. Group B: Telengana, Indian Railways, Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan; Selected fixtures on Wednesday (all groups and levels): Men: Uttarakhand vs Odisha, Rajasthan vs Karnataka, TN vs Haryana, Puducherry vs Telengana, Andhra Pradesh vs J&K. Women: Telengana vs Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh vs Karnataka, TN vs Madhya Pradesh.
Hemalatha stars in TN win
D Hemalatha’s unbeaten 90 helped Tamil Nadu beat J & K by 103 runs in the BCCI senior women’s T20 league, Plate C match played at the TI-Murugappa Grounds here on Tuesday.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 152/3 in 20 ovs (D Hemalatha 90 n.o) bt J & K 49 in 19.3 ovs (L Nethra 3/12). Punjab 116 in 20 ovs (Ridhima Aggarwal 32) bt Tripura 66 in 19.1 ovs (Sneh Rana 3/19). Chhattisgarh 104/4 in 20 ovs bt Odisha 103/8 in 20 ovs (Sarita Meher 42 n.o).
Aravind scalps nine
Medium pacer S Aravind’s spell of 9/29, including a hat-trick, paved the way for Ebenezer CA to thrash Classic CC by seven wickets, in a First Division match of the TNCA-Thiruvallur DCA league.
Brief scores: I Division: Classic CC 56 in 14.2 ovs (S Aravind 9/29) lost to Ebenezer CA 60/3 in 16.3 ovs (Sathish Kumar 26 n.o; Kapil 3/28).
Vellore CC win series
Vellore CC beat YSCA 2-1 in a limited-overs series, organised by Vellore District Cricket Association and played at Thanthai Periyar Polytechnic Grounds.
Brief scores: Vellore CC 187/8 in 40 ovs (Prasad 48; Aashik 3/27) bt YSCA 158/9 in 40 ovs(Bharath 4/35). YSCA 186 all out in 50 ovs (P Raghavendra 63, Sanjay 4/38) bt Vellore CC 114 all out in 30.2 ovs (Aashik 4/23, S Daniel 3/8). Vellore CC 283/9 in 50 ovs (Ashrey 127, Naveen 51; Yasin 3/34 ) bt YSCA 190 in 50 ovs (M Vishal 49, Aashik 59; Prithish 4/31).
Customs post win
Chennai Customs beat Chennai City FC 1-0 in the Don Bosco– Fr McFerran trophy All-India football tournament, held in Red Hills.