TNCA League: Bafna's five-for puts India Pistons on top

CHENNAI: India Pistons' left-arm spinner Maan K Bafna bagged his first five-wicket haul of the season - scalping 5 for 23 - in the TNCA Elite first division semifinal against Globe Trotters on Friday.
Bafna's show with the ball helped India Pistons dismiss their opposition for 232. For the batting side, Anmolpreet Singh (66, 9x4, 1x6), U Sushil (44) and skipper MS Washington Sundar (44) played their parts with the bat.In reply, India Pistons were 19 for 1 at stumps.
In the other semifinal, Vijay CC called the shots against Grand Slam, bowling them out for 131. The chief destroyers for Vijay CC were left-arm spinner Rahil Shah (4 for 33) and right-arm medium pacer M Mohammed (4 for 39). They were well-supported by Aswin Crist who took 2 for 9. Rahil has so far taken 27 wickets in the Elite division and 54 in the season so far.
Vijay CC, in reply, were in a spot of bother at 70 for 4. R Rohith led the show with the bat, scoring 32.
In the Plate League final, Alwarpet ended the opening day on 249 for 5 against Jolly Rovers. Swapnil Gugale scored an unbeaten 129 to lead the batting charts. Swapnil's 240-ball essay contained 20 fours and 2 sixes.
In the company of skipper P Shijit Chandran (66, 6x4, 2x6), Swapnil stitched together a partnership of 176 runs in 59 overs for the third wicket to give momentum to Alwarpet's innings. For Jolly Rovers, left-arm spinner DT Chandrasekar returned with figures of four for 65.
Brief scores: Elite semifinals: Globe Trotters 232 in 82.4 overs (MS Washington Sundar 44, Anmolpreet Singh 66, U Sushil 44; Maan K Bafna 5-23) vs India Pistons 19-1 in five overs; Grand Slam 131 in 51.3 overs (Rahil Shah 4-33, Mohammed 4-39) vs Vijay CC 70-4 in 30 overs (R Rohith 32, Amarnath 2-18)
Plate final: Alwarpet 249-5 in 89.5 overs (Swapnil Gugale 129 batting, Shijit Chandran 66; Chandrasekar 4-65) vs Jolly Rovers