Kaushik slams ton, Silambarasan comes up with fighting spell

Jolly Rovers CC skipper Kaushik led his team from the front in the 2019-20 season semi-final contest against Young Stars CC at the Guru Nanak College Ground, scoring a stroke-filled 112 off 195 deliveries while opening the batting on Wednesday.

Riding on Kaushik’s ton, which was decorated with 16 boundaries, Jolly Rovers posted 372 at stumps on Day One.

For the second wicket, Kaushik shared a 135-run alliance off 247 balls with Baba Aparajith (61 off 133 balls, 6 fours), who was the side’s second-best contributor.

Baba Indrajith (48 off 62 balls, 3 fours, 3 sixes) and all-rounder Sonu Yadav (47 off 68 balls, 5 fours), in at No.4 and No.6 respectively, took the attack to the opposition by using the long handle to good effect.

Right-arm medium pacer R Silambarasan (6 for 70 in 19 overs) was the lone bright spot in the Young Stars bowling unit, sending each of the top-four Jolly Rovers batters back to the dugout. Kaushik’s commanding knock and Silambarasan’s fighting spell were special for two reasons – the little time they had to switch between the formats and the prolonged period they were away from red-ball cricket due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“First of all, I am happy that the First Division is back. It is good to see the TNCA put in a lot of effort to complete the 2019-20 season. We had only a two-day break, so there wasn’t a lot of time to prepare. It was just the mindset that we all changed,” Kaushik told DT Next.

On his part, Silambarasan said: “It has been nearly one-and-a-half years since we last played with the red ball. We had only four days of training ahead of the match, so it took some time to adapt to the format.

“I am delighted to contribute to the team’s cause with a six-wicket haul. I just focussed on my lines and lengths. A lot of good things happened to me.” In the other semi-final clash at the SRMC Turf Ground, Vijay CC bowled Globe Trotters SC out for 170 in 58.3 overs, courtesy of pacer L Vignesh’s (5 for 30) game-changing five-wicket haul. At close of play, Vijay CC was 109 without loss in 34 overs.

BRIEF SCORES (AT STUMPS ON DAY 1): Jolly Rovers CC 372 in 100 overs (Kaushik Gandhi 112, Baba Aparajith 61, Baba Indrajith 48, Ankeet Bawne 31, Sonu Yadav 47, R Nilesh Subramanian 36*, R Silambarasan 6/70, Wilkins Victor 2/54) vs Young Stars CC

Globe Trotters SC 170 in 58.3 overs (Sanvir Singh 35, Maan K Bafna 69*, Akash Sumra 34, Rahil Shah 3/32, L Vignesh 5/30) vs Vijay CC 109/0 in 34 overs (KB Arun Karthick 56*, L Suryapprakash 51*)