MRC ‘A’ in a position of dominance

CHENNAI: NS Chaturved (132 off 163 balls, 16 fours, 1 six), Rishi Dhawan (116 off 109 balls, 13 fours, 2 sixes) and Harsh Dubey (116 off 107 balls, 7 fours, 6 sixes) slammed centuries to guide MRC ‘A’ to a mammoth 484 for five against Vijay CC on the opening day – Thursday – of the First Division League final at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here.

The MRC ‘A’ top-five made full use of the batting-friendly surface at Chepauk as it smashed 49 fours and 10 sixes in 88.2 overs.

Besides the trio of Chaturved, Dhawan and Dubey, B Anirudh Sitaram (83 off 116 balls, 9 fours, 1 six) impressed for the Ravichandran Ashwin-led team that made the Vijay bowlers toil in the scorching heat.

Invited to bat after losing the toss, MRC ‘A’ got off to a good start as openers Chaturved and Ashwin put on 62 runs for the first wicket. The second-wicket stand between Chaturved and Anirudh was better, with the duo accumulating 174 runs in 36.3 overs.

But, the fourth-wicket partnership involving No.4 Dhawan and No.5 Dubey was the best of the day as the right-left combination took the attack to the opposition while collecting 219 runs off just 31.5 overs.

Skipper and left-arm spinner Rahil Shah (3/95) was the pick of the Vijay bowlers, scalping three despite being a tad expensive.

Left-arm orthodox R Sai Kishore (0/129 in 23 overs) and part-timer Shahrukh Khan (0/72 off 8 overs) had a forgettable outing, leaking a combined 201 runs off 31 overs.

BRIEF SCORES:Final: MRC ‘A’ 484/5 in 88.2 overs (NS Chaturved 132, Ravichandran Ashwin 25, B Anirudh Sitaram 83, Rishi Dhawan 116, Harsh Dubey 116, Rahil Shah 3/95) vs Vijay CC

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