Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Vinay Kumar shines as Puducherry beats Assam

The 35-year-old fast bowlers turns in a spell of 4 for 4 to help his team trump Assam by six wickets.

File Photo: R. Vinay Kumar gave away just four runs in 3.4 overs.

For a fast bowler who is already 35, it is not easy to be consistent day in and day out. But R. Vinay Kumar does it at ease. After a rather low-key outing in the first three outings of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Vinay made his presence felt on Friday afternoon, as his bowling spell guided Puducherry to a six-wicket win over Assam.

AS IT HAPPENED

At the Bandra-Kurla Complex here, Vinay scalped four wickets, giving away just four runs, to put Assam on the mat right from the beginning. He was ably backed by Fabid Ahmed who scalped three wickets.

A brief respite

With the two tightening the screws, an young Assam outfit lost its first five wickets for just 12 runs, and it looked like a Herculean task for the team to put up a competitive total. With all of its top batsmen back to the dugout, Rajjakuddin Ahmed and Abdul Mazid forged a 60-run stand to ensure that there was a modest run on the board.

But after Rajjakuddin’s dismissal, the innings crumbled and Assam was bundled out for a meagre 102.

Puducherry suffered a shaky start in its innings. It lost two quick wickets — Rohit Damodaran and Kartik Sukumaran — for just seven runs. The struggling K. B. Arun Karthik, too, departed for 19. But in the end, it mattered little as Paras Dogra (38 n.o., 25b, 3x4, 2x6) and Anand Subramanian (32, 38b, 3x4) stitched a partnership to ensure there was no slip-up.

Puducherry will play Bengal at the same venue on Sunday.

• Assam 102 in 18.4 overs (Rajjakuddin Ahmed 31, Abdul Mazid 30; R Vinay Kumar 4 for 4, Fabid Ahmed 3 for 21) lost to Puducherry 106 for 4 in 18 overs (Paras Dogra 38 n.o., Anand Subramanian 32) by six wickets.