Chemplast lifts trophy

By Our Sports Reporter

BANGALORE, AUG. 15. It was a hearty lunch for Chemplast at the Palace Ground here on Wednesday. J. Harish slammed left-arm spinner Kiran Adhav for four straight down the ground and the Chennai outfit had scripted a five-wicket victory against Roofit Mumbai minutes before the scheduled afternoon break.

Chemplast won the Coromandel Cement Trophy KSCA Diamond Jubilee All India invitation tournament after the initial spade work rested on the Jinju Joseph-Ajay Kudua combine. The duo's 91-run fourth-wicket partnership guided Chemplast past the initial jitters of a 27 for three scoreboard while chasing 157 in the stipulated 40-over second innings.

Earlier, R. Ram Kumar, the lanky left-arm spinner (three for 24), polished off the Roofit tail in the day's first over, scalping Aziz Sheik and Avinash Aware. Roofit failed to extend its overnight score of 143 and lasted a mere four deliveries in the morning.

The Mumbai team's debut dreams of a trophy triumph almost became a mirage until the Chemplast chase got mired in heavy weather as Sujith Somasundar, S. Badrinath and Aditya Srikanth failed to get into their groove. However, Joseph, promoted to the opener's slot, held firm and with skipper Ajay Kudua for company, the Chemplast revival-act was set in motion. Kudua (54, 74b, 6x4) freed his arms, while Joseph (61, 84b, 7x4) played the waiting game.

A touch of class was evident when Joseph straight drove seamer Avinash Aware for four while Chemplast inched towards a title triumph. Kudua whipped his runs down the leg-side and often essayed the drive to leave Roofit staring at an imminent defeat.

He almost undid the chase, but his steepling mishit off Anand Yalvigi was grassed by Aziz Sheikh near the mid-wicket fence. Kudua had his reprieve on 29 and he persevered while Joseph was snapped off a mis-timed sweep against Yalvigi.

The cruise towards the target acquired a break-neck speed as Harish (29, 16b, 4x4, 1x6) walloped Kiran Adhav for a six and four with utter disdain.

However, Kudua failed to etch the finishing touch after the scores were level. A needless hoick against Adhav helped the bowler catch the steepling mishit.

Harish avoided last-minute hassles with a crisp boundary and Chemplast was home for lunch. The Chennai outfit had more reasons to smile when L. Balaji with a match haul of 12 wickets bagged the `man of the match' award and left-arm spinner R. Ram Kumar the `man of the series' award.

The scores (final): Roofit Mumbai 263 in 66.4 overs and 143 in 29.4 overs (Kiran Powar 46, L. Balaji five for 45, R. Ram Kumar three for 24) lost to Chemplast 250 in 86.4 overs and 160 for five in 31.2 overs (Jinju Joseph 61, Ajay Kudua 54, J. Harish 29 n.o.).

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