Sport - Cricket

Madurai beats Dindigul, enters semifinals

DINDIGUL: Madurai entered the semifinals of the TNCA S.S. Rajan Trophy senior inter-district cricket tournament, defeating host Dindigul by five runs in a rain-affected match here on Friday.

Batting first, Madurai piled up 264 runs in 49.4 overs with solid contributions from Vijayaprakash (70) and K. Noorul Riaz (77).

In reply, Dindigul made a good start and was 50 for no loss in 9.5 overs when rain stopped play. The game started after 70 minutes with a revised target of 175 in 33 overs, but Dindigul was all out for 169 in 32.2 overs.

Kancheepuram has it easy

In Salem, Kancheepuram kept its cool and pulled off a two-wicket win over Erode at the Salem Steel Plant grounds.

Electing to bat, Erode, with a sole contribution from Huzefa M. Patel (73), posted 200 in 46.4 overs. In reply, Devendran (45) and Basha (43 not out) steered the team to a comfortable win in 45.4 overs.

The scores: Madurai 264 in 49.4 overs (V. Jeyaprakash 70, K. Noorul Riaz 77, V. Subramania Siva 49, Mahendrakumar 46) bt Dindigul 169 in 32.2 overs (revised target 175 in 33 overs) (Elamaran 42).

Erode 200 in 46.4 overs (Huzefa M. Patel 73) lost to Kancheepuram 201 for eight in 45.4 overs (Devendran 45, Basha 43 not out).

Dindigul defeated Coimbatore 4-2 via the tiebreaker and qualified for the semifinals at the 15th State Youth football championship in Pudukottai at the YMSA ground on Friday.

Sriram sizzles

Tiruvallur entered the semifinals of the S.S. Rajan Trophy, defeating Dharmapuri by five wickets at the Jaya (turf) ground in Chennai recently. K. Sriram claimed five for 24 for the winner.

The scores (quarterfinals):

Dharmapuri 122 in 30.2 overs (K. Sriram five for 24) lost to Tiruvallur 126 for five in 19.4 overs (P. Shijith Chandran 61).

Vellore 241 for nine in 50 overs (S. Manivannan 65, S.A. Zafarullah Sheriff 42, E. Suresh 51) bt Tiruchi 117 in 25 overs.

Abirami wins title

R. Abirami, with six points, won the title in the under-7 category at the chess tournament, jointly organised by Tiruchi Chess Academy and the youth wing of district Naidu Mahajan Sangam, in Tiruchi.

The results (winners only)

Boys: Under-7: M. Aram (5); U-9: S. Raghunandan (5.5); U-11: J. Jerome Prince (6.5); U-13: K. Joseph Anand (6); U-15: G. Balasubramanian (4).

Girls: Under-7: R. Abirami (6); U-9: N. Pinglashree (5); U-11: P. Sangeetha (5); U-13: P. Nivetha (6); U-15: C. Sridevi (5.5).

P&T Dorai MFC posts win

Raghu and Murthy scored as P&T Dorai MFC blanked RK MFC 2-0 in the Tiruchi district football association first division league match at the Bishop Heber HSS grounds on Friday. In another encounter, BHEL and Globe FC played a goalless draw.

HAL outwits IB

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) began its ONGC Cup Group B second division National Football League, on a winning note.

At the Football Stadium in Bangalore on Friday, the Aircraftmen defeated Chennai's Indian Bank 1-0. The scorer was Kenneth Onu.

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