Reuben Paul helps Pistons knock out NCA

Amidst turmoil in Bangalore, the India Pistons team from Chennai coasted to a 76 run victory over the local National Cricket Academy (NCA) side. This is the first time the NCA has fielded a side in the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Diamond Jubilee Tournament. Their inexperience showed through loud and clear as they were knocked out in the very first match they played.

When the NCA captain Reetinder Singh Sodhi won the toss, he put India Pistons in to bat. Vikram Rathore, former India opener and seasoned Ranji Trophy cricketer managed to stay at the crease long enough to make 17. It was Anand George however who was the first to be dismissed, with just 12 runs on the board. He was caught by the captain off the bowling of talented young mediumpacer Mrithyunjay Tripathi. The youngster struck again soon after, when he had Rathore caught behind.

Steady middle order bat Satyajit Medappa was in his element in a low scoring game. Making a well paced 33 including 3 boundaries, Medappa propped up the middle order. C Hemanth Kumar who has been among the runs in the first division league in Chennai, where he made an unbeaten hundred in the last game he played, was the next to go, stumped by Ajay Ratra off the Mumbai off spinner Romesh Powar. A mini collapse in the middle order looked inevitable as India Pistons slumped to 83/6.

Any hopes Sodhi would have harboured of knocking India Pistons out for a low score were dismissed by Reuben Paul who slammed an unbeaten 58 batting at number 7. The hard hitting wicketkeeper batsman notched up a half century partnership with the experienced Sunil Subramaniam. Reuben Paul, known more for his hard hitting than his ability to stay at the wicket long, brought up his half century off just 56 balls. Given the fact that India Pistons were 83/6 at one point, this was an invaluable innings. Sunil Subramaniam made 28 in his stay at the wicket. At the end of their allotted 45 overs, India Pistons managed a respectable 176. The match was earlier reduced to 45 overs a side as overnight rain forced a 40 minute delay in starting the match.

When the NCA XI came out to bat chasing 177, they still had a more than reasonable chance of attaining the target. But a side with several stars in it failed to muster up the required runs. Shiv Sundar Das started the rot at the top of the order when he was dismissed before he could get off the mark. The hard hitting Yuvraj Singh made just 1 before he was cleaned up by mediumpacer Gagandeep Singh. India Test cap Mohammed Kaif and skipper Reetinder Singh Sodhi did worse than Yuvraj, both being dismissed for ducks. At 41/6 there was very little the NCA XI could hope for.

The 25 that Sridharan Sriram made opening the innings turned out to be the top score of the innings. With such paltry contributions, the NCA slumped to 100 all out. The wrecker in chief, Gagandeep Singh finished with 4/14 from the 9 overs he sent down. A 76 run loss signaled the NCA XI's quick exit from the tournament. Hardly what you expect from a side that contains the cream of talent from the country's premier coaching academy.