da dobrowin： After losing three wickets for 22 in less than seven overs, BPL SportsClub did well in getting as much as 259 in 79.4 overs in their firstinnings against National Cricket Academy on the opening day of theirthree day match in the Coromandel Cement
Staff Reporter28-Jul-2001After losing three wickets for 22 in less than seven overs, BPL SportsClub did well in getting as much as 259 in 79.4 overs in their firstinnings against National Cricket Academy on the opening day of theirthree day match in the Coromandel Cement Cup tournament at the RSIground in Bangalore on Saturday.Put in to bat, BPL were set back by the NCA opening bowlers Srivatsavand Agarwal. Openers S Puranik (2) and A Mishra (8) and skipper YereGoud (0) were the batsmen to be dismissed. V Madyalkar (36) and NMulki (35) initiated a recovery process by adding 65 runs for thefourth wicket off 19.3 overs.The momentum was maintained by the middle order. KN Ramesh got avaluable 25 and then C Raghu and wicketkeeper SN Shiraguppi shared aseventh wicket partnership of 94 runs off 32.3 overs that carried theBPL score into the realms of respectibility. Raghu, who top scoredwith 73 before being run out, faced 130 balls and hit ten of them tothe ropes. Shiraguppi, who was ninth out for 37, faced 97 balls andhit five fours and a six. The last four wickets fell for only 22 runsleaving Srivatsav as the most successful bowler with four for 52 off16 overs. Agarwal took 2 for 59 while A Mishra had two for 57.In the four overs before stumps were drawn, NCA openers Gautam Gambhir(6) and Vinayak Mane (5) came through unscathed with the total on 12.Play is restricted to 90 overs in the first innings and 40 in thesecond. Play started late in the morning due to wet pitch conditionsand the action went on till almost 6 pm.