CHENNAI: Defending champions Jolly Rovers take on India Pistons at CPT-IP grounds in the inaugural match of the new season of the TNCA senior division league on Monday. Though the key outstation players of Jolly Rovers, Jayant Yadav and Jiwanjot Singh are doubtful for the first round, the team looks strong. Rahul Tripathi will make his debut for India Pistons.
Vijay CC, last year’s runners-up in the league, have retained the core team and have made some minor changes with Tamil Nadu limited-over captain Vijay Shankar leading the side.
“We have a good side and I am happy to be leading the same. Abhishek Selvakumar, a Tamil Nadu Under-19 player, has been drafted in as a new player. J Kaushik who played for Grand Slam last year will play for us this season. We narrowly missed the title last year. This season, we will give our best and try to get back the crown,’’ said Vijay.Nelson SC, the newly promoted side in the First Division, have signed up Ranji Trophy stars Robin Bist, Priyank Panchal and Shahbaz Nadeem.
Mathan cracks ton
RV Mathan Raj’s unbeaten 121 and S Mohana Kumar’s 117 helped Krishnagiri beat Sivagangai by 202 runs in the TNCA inter-district under-16 tournament for PR Thevar Trophy. Batting first, Krishnagiri posted 292/4 in their quota of 50 overs. In reply, Sivagangai were bundled out for a meagre 90, with S Athreya claiming five wickets for the winners.In another match, Nilgiris beat Thiruvallur by five wickets. Rohit Pranav and Dwij Dipak Patel hit half-centuries for Nilgiris.
Brief scores: Krishnagiri 292/4 in 50 ovs (RV Mathan Raj 121 no, S Mohana Kumar 117) bt Sivagangai 90 in 32 ovs (J Abisshek 3/27, S Athreya 5/16). Thiruvallur 166 in 48.5 ovs (P Lithish Kumar 60; Aditya Kumar Gaurav 3/38, TN Onkar Prasad 5/24) lost to Nilgiris 167/5 in 46.3 ovs (Dwij Dipak Patel 56, Rohit Pranav 56 no). Thiruvarur 43 in 18.2 ovs (Selva Harish 5/24, RA Sarukkan 3/14) lost to Tirunelveli 47/1 in 7.5 ovs (AP Ananda Kumar 32 no). Kanyakumari 195/8 in 50 ovs (Anwar Arshath 92, M Vasanth 34) lost to Karur 197/2 in 41.4 ovs (P Praveenkanth 65 no, Naveen Kumar 75). Perambalur 170/6 in 50 ovs (B Girish Sriram 73 no; N Thikish 3/33) lost to Coimbatore 176/2 in 33 ovs (ND Hari Shankar 85 no, Vijay Abimanyu 49). Thanjavur 136 in 32 ovs (R Dhyanesh 43) lost to Ramanathapuram 137/5 in 35.3 ovs (S Roshan Cibi 61 no). Pudukottai 132 in 45.3 ovs (PC Arun Kumar 34 ; A Ranjan 5/30) lost to Dindigul 133/3 in 25 ovs (A Ranjan 61 no). Tirupur 165/8 in 50 ovs (V Karthik 31, D Santhosh Kumar 73 no, S Mahaveer 3/39) bt Erode 82 in 34 ovs (SJ Arun Kumar 3/19, B Iyappan 6/15).
RCC Diva retain title
RCC Diva won two of the best-of- three finals to retain the title at the Elite Super Sixes Little Champ competition, held at Chennai Citi Centre on Sunday. In the first final, RCC Diva defeated RYA Cosmo by 43 runs and in the second by five wickets.Brief scores: RCC Diva 80/6 in 7 ovs bt RYA Cosmo 37/6 in 7 ovs. MoM: Priyash Jain; RYA Cosmo 28/6 in 7 ovs lost to RCC Diva 32/1. MoM: Vansh Ghoda; Awards: Champions Trophy: RCC Diva. Runners-up trophy: RYA Cosmo. Orange cap: Neev Nahar (RCC Main). Purple cap: Dhirav Baid, (RYA Metro), Player of the tournament: Neev Nahar (RCC Main). Emerging player of the tournament: Priyash Jain (RCC Diva).