Vice Presidents XI are champs; Kirmani slams ton

Bengaluru: Bad weather followed half-centuries from Milind Ramesh (72) and Dinesh Borwankar (76) as Vice President's XI grabbed the crucial innings honours against Bangalore Zone to clinch the Shafi Darashah Trophy cricket tournament title at the RSI grounds on Monday.
Vice President's XI were two down for 20 on the first day before rain interrupted the day's proceedings.Resuming on the second and final day, the fourth-wicket stand of Ramesh and Borwankar added 110 runs as Vice President's posted 242/9. decl. in 81.3 overs. New ball bowler T Pradeep returned with a five-wicket haul while Mitrakant Yadav took three. In reply, Bangalore Zone, finished at 88 for one in 17 overs, conceding the lead to Vice President’s XI.
At the Chinnaswamy stadium, opener Sadiq Kirmani slammed a century while tail-ender Prateek Jain applied the finishing touches as President's XI grabbed the innings honours against Combined XI.
President's XI, replying to Combined XI's first innings score of 365, were well on course in the beginning but suddenly found themselves in trouble following a middle-order meltdown. However, Jain held his nerve with an unbeaten 26 in the company of Anand Doddamnai as President's XI, reeling at 352/9 with 29 balls to go for the close of play, finished at 380/9 in 90 overs.
Earlier, President's XI looked in control with Kirmani giving the team a flying start with a century (133) followed by significant contributions from Liyan Khan (65), Mohammed Azeem (60) and KV Siddharth (40). Once the top four batsmen perished, President's XI appeared to have lost the grip of the contest before Jain came to the rescue. Likith Bannur (3-74) and Praveen Dubey (4-86) shared the wickets for Combined XI.
Brief scores: Combined XI: 365/5 in 90 overs (Rohan Kadam 72, Nihal Shilar 96, Dikshanshu Negi 145) drew with President's XI: 380/9 in 90 overs (Sadiq Kirmani 133, Liyan Khan 65, Md. Azeem 60, KV Siddhath 40, Prateek Jain 26 n.o.; Likith Bannur 3-74, Praveen Dubey 4-86).
Vice President's XI: 242/9 in 81.3 overs (Milind Ramesh 72, Dinesh Borwankar 76, Abrar Kazi 28; T Pradeep 5-47, Mitrakant Yadav 3-64) drew with Bangalore Zone: 88/1 in 17 overs (R Prateeksh 35, Abhinav Sadarangani 38).