Samarth, Mayank put KSCA XI on top

BENGALURU: R Samarth cracked a century (124) to put

KSCA

XI in firm control on the first day of their four-day Dr Thimmappiah Memorial All India cricket tournament match against Assam Cricket Association at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here on Saturday.

The right-handed opening batsman, who was the highest scorer for Karnataka in the previous Ranji Trophy season with 702 runs from nine matches, sizzled with a 197-run second-wicket partnership with Mayank Agarwal (97) to help the hosts finish the day on a commanding 343/3 in 90 overs. At close, Kaunian Abbas (45) and Pavan Deshpande (21) were at the crease.

Put into bat, Karnataka suffered an early setback when opener Abhishek Reddy, who was the leading scorer at the just concluded Safi Darashah tournament (two-day format) with 213 runs, departed for 46. But Samarth and Agarwal combined well to keep the Assam attack at bay.

At Alur ground, KSCA Colts failed to provide the breakthrough as Cricket Association of Bengal rode on centuries from Purab Joshi (122) and Sudip Chatterjee (110 not out) and their impressive 219-run third-wicket partnership to amass 305/4. Vyshak V 2-58, KC Cariappa 2-86 shared wickets for the host.

At the RSI ground, Kunal Kapoor (129), Anirudha Joshi (111) notched up tons as KSCA President's XI recovered from a poor start to put themselves on top against Andhra Cricket Association. President's XI were 96 for 3 in 25 overs before the fourth-wicket pair of Kapoor and Joshi steadied the innings, forging 168 runs. At close, President's XI were 369/9.

In Mysuru, Jay Bista missed out on a double ton by nine runs but his fiery knock ensured Mumbai Cricket Association finished the day at 381/4 in 89 overs. His knock was laced with 23 fours and a six. The highlight of his innings was his 211-run partnership with Akhil Herwadkar (79) for the second wicket.

Brief scores: At KSCA: KSCA XI: 343/3 in 90 overs (Abhishek Reddy 46, Samarth R 124, Mayank Agarwal 97, Mir Kaunain Abbas 45 n.o.) vs Assam Cricket Association.

At Alur 1: Cricket Association of Bengal: 305/4 in 90 overs (Purab Joshi 122, Sudip Chatterjee 110 n.o., Agniv Pan 34; Vyshak V 2-58, KC Cariappa 2-86) vs KSCA Colts

At RSI: KSCA President's XI: 369/9 in 90 overs (Arjun Hoysala A 38, Kunal Kappor 129, Anirudha Joshi 111, Praveen Dubey 40, Mitrakant Singh Yadav 28 n.o.; P Vijay Kumar 2-29, B Ayyappa 3-76, I Karthik Raman 3-74) vs Andhra Cricket Association.

At Alur 2: Haryana Cricket Association: 403/5 in 90 overs (Shubham Rohilla 119, Chaitanya Bishnoi 82, Rahul Dagar 62, Rajat Paliwal 107 n.o.) vs Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association.

Alur 3: Tripura Cricket Association: 304/6 in 90 overs (Bishal Ghosh 34, Yashpal Singh 114 n.o., Rajat Dey 34, Manisankar Murasingh 79; Pankaj Jaswal 2-72) vs Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association.

At Just Cricket ground: Dr. DY Patil Cricket Academy: 230 all out in 56.4 overs (Shoaib Shaikh 53, Kevin Almieda 42, Aditya Garhwal 40; Jaskaran Singh 5-67, Samar Quadri 4-68) vs Jharkhand State Cricket Association: 135/1 in 33 overs (Babul Kumar 54 n.o., Pratyush Singh 56 n.o.).

In Mysuru: At SDRNW ground: Mumbai Cricket Association: 381/4 in 89 overs (Akhil Herwadkar 79, Jay Bista 191, Arman Jaffer 36, Siddhesh Lad 45 n.o.; Mehul Patel 2-61, Ishwar Choudhary 2-92) vs Gujarat Cricket Association.

At SJCE: Punjab Cricket Association: 173 all out in 53.4 overs (Manan Vohra 56, Gurkeeret Mann 33, Sandeep Sharma 36; Md Nidheesh 2-31, Fanoos 2-46, Monish 3-53, Fabid Farook Ahmed 3-36) vs Kerala Cricket Association: 114/3 in 34 overs (Rohan Prem 29 n.o.; Gurkeeret Mann 2-24).