Air India extend winning streak

BANGALORE: Air India may be in the red, on the brink of financial disaster even, when it comes to their core business but on ground, on the cricket field at least, they still hold most of the aces.
If on a rain-hit opening day of the BCCI Corporate Trophy on Thursday, Air India easily defeated Customs and Central Excise, on Friday they simply rolled over All India Electricity Board (AIEB), to record two wins from two games.A place in the semifinal is now a formality.
Put into bat on Friday, Air India made light of the slow track on offer at the Chinnaswamy Stadium to pile on 324 for 9 in their allotted 50 overs. Openers Paul Valthaty (46, 35b, 8x4, 1x6), the find of IPL IV, and Robin Uthappa (57, 54b, 7x4) got the side off to a typically brisk start, raising 72 from 54 balls. Mohd Kaif (82, 88b, 8x4, 1x6) and RR Parida (54, 59b, 4x4), who were associated in a 111-run fifth wicket stand, then built on the foundation nicely as the AIEB bowlers lost the plot completely. That their main bowler Ashok Dinda, bowled full tosses at the death, that is when he didn't overstep, something he did on ten occasions, didn't help their cause.
If the AIEB bowling was poor, their batting was pathetic. The target, despite the presence of the likes of Dhawal Kulkarni, Siddarth Trivedi and Pradeep Sangwan in the opposition, wasn't in any way unattainable. But then the manner in which the AIEB batsmen threw away their wickets was more a testimony of the tournament, year on year, turning out to be no one's child. That offie Ajith Chandila picked up four for 21 from 5.4 overs by simply tossing the ball from a height, showed up the AIEB effort and their eventual dismissal for 79 was no surprise.
At the RSI ground, Customs and Central Excise recorded their first win in the tournament when they defeated State Bank of Patiala by six wickets. Chasing a modest 195, Customs got home in the 43rd over, Simrat Bawa leading the charge with an unbeaten 73.
Brief scores: Friday's matches: At Chinnaswamy Stadium: Air India: 324/9 in 50 overs (Paul Valthaty 46, Robin Uthappa 57, Hrishikesh Kanitkar 27, Mohd Kaif 82, RR Parida 54; Ashok Dinda 2-70, Shib Shankar Paul 3-59, Ankur Jund 3-40) bt AIEB: 79 all out in 20.4 overs (Pradeep Sangwan 2-8, Ajith Chandila 4-21).
At RSI: State Bank of Patiala: 194/9 in 50 overs (Vishwas Bhalla 25, Pankaj Dharmani 56; Balakrishna Shirke 3-30, Parag Khanapurkar 3-29) lost to Customs & Central Excise: 195/4 in 42.5 overs (Hiken Shah 47, Simrat Bawa 73 n.o.., Devraj Patil 38; Rajiv Sirhindi 2-43, Sidharth Kaul 2-35).
Thursday's matches: At Chinnaswamy Stadium: Customs & Central Excise: 214 all out in 49 overs (Simrat Bawa 45, Sachin Wagh 32, Atul Ranade 43, Devraj Patil 28; P Sangwan 3-30, Ajit Chandala 3-41, Pawan Negi 3-43) lost to Air India 153/2 in 23.2 overs (Paul Valthaty 75, H Kanitkar 54 n.o.) on VJD method.
At RSI: State Bank of Patiala 287/5 in 50 overs (Rakesh Rehni 38, Ravi Inder Singh 154, Vishwas Bhalla 29, Pankaj Dharmani 32; Nilesh Kulkarni 2-46) lost to AIEB: 166/2 in 27 overs (Wriddhiman Saha 94 n.o., Manoj Tiwari 49) on VJD method.