Ayush Pandey was aggressive against the tweakers.
| Photo Credit: G. Karthikeyan
A 145-run second-wicket stand between opener Ayush Pandey (82, 172b, 11×4) and Anuj Tiwari (93, 175b, 10×4, 2×6) helped Chhattisgarh get to 294 for three against TNCA XI on day one of the semifinals of the Buchi Babu tournament at the NPR College Cricket Ground here on Monday.
Chhattisgarh batters seemed to prefer playing the sweep to the spinners.
Left-hander Ayush superbly reverse-swept left-arm spinner S. Ajith Ram for a four to the third-man boundary, while Anuj swept Ajith and off-spinner Lakshay Jain for two boundaries to the square leg boundary.
Ayush began his boundary count with a front-foot on-drive off Ajith. He drove pacer Achyuth to the long-off boundary and followed it up with a straight drive off a full toss. He played the straight drive again off Achyuth for a four off a no-ball. But when he tried to smash it straight off Ajith, the bowler took a sharp reflex catch.
Anuj Tiwari.
| Photo Credit:
G. KARTHIKEYAN
Anuj cover-drove and straight-drove pacer Sonu Yadav for two fours, straight-drove Achyuth for a four, and again cover-drove off-spinner Pradosh Ranjan Paul for a boundary. He hit a straight six each off Pradosh and Lakshay. He top-edged his midwicket hoick off Lakshay to be caught by Ajith at backward point.
A brief spell of rain halted play after Anuj fell. Upon resumption, new batter Prateek Yadav brought up a brisk half-century (61 batting, 67b, 7×4, 3×6), as his skipper Amandeep Khare (35 batting, 117b, 3×4) held fort. The pair added 92 runs for the unbroken fourth-wicket partnership.
The scores (semifinal, day one): Chhattisgarh 294/3 in 90 overs (Ayush Pandey 82, Anuj Tiwari 93, Prateek Yadav 61 batting) vs. TNCA XI; Toss: Chhattisgarh
