Rohan Kunnummal’s sparkling century powered Kerala to a facile five-wicket win over Goa in their Vijay Hazare encounter at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Tuesday.
Kunnummal (134, 101b, 17x4, 4x6) hammered his maiden First-Class century to help Kerala record a second Group ‘C’ win in three outings. Chasing 242, Kerala took apart the Goa bowling attack to finish the match with nearly 12 overs to spare.
Kunnummal displayed a wide range of shots. The opener was particularly good against spin, going through with powerful shots even when he did not reach the pitch of the ball. When slow bowlers Darshan Misal and Mohit Redkar dropped it short, Kunnummal was ready with the late cuts and pulls.
Batting first, Goa rode on a fighting 87-ball 69 from Misal to post a respectable total. Misal, who put on an 83-run sixth-wicket stand with Deepraj Gaonkar (32, 49b, 1x4, 1x6), started slowly. It was only in the death overs that Misal began to bat freely. The Kerala pacers used a good mix of slower deliveries, and the yorkers managed to keep it tight.
The handful of spectators came alive when Arjun Tendulkar, the son of stalwart Sachin Tendulkar, walked in to bat for Goa. There were cheers for Arjun amidst chants of “Sachin, Sachin”.
Andhra and Haryana recorded one-sided victories over Arunachal Pradesh and Bihar, respectively. Andhra’s Abhishek Reddy, who made 85 in the previous match, came to the party once again with a 133-ball 136. His teammate K.S. Bharat made an unbeaten 100.
At Alur Cricket Stadium, Tamil Nadu survived a scare from Chhattisgarh. After being put in, Tamil Nadu racked up 340 for six, on the back of centuries from openers Sai Sudarshan (121, 109b, 10x4, 4x6) and N. Jagadeesan (107, 113b, 10x4, 2x6).
Chhattisgarh, however, made a match of it. Skipper Harpreet Bhatia (121, 129b, 11x4, 2x6) and Amandeep Khare (115, 99b, 5x4, 5x6) recorded a 214-run third-wicket stand to push Tamil Nadu onto the backfoot. The dismissal of the set duo gave Tamil Nadu some breathing room, leading to a close 14-run win.
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