Delhi on winning spree

FCI defeat Bud Cricket Club, Air India outplay Calcutta team

Airtel T20

A FCI batsman attempts a shot at Nehru Stadium on Friday. Picture by Eastern Projections Guwahati, March 7 : Defending champions Food Corporation of India (FCI), Delhi, and Air India, Delhi, today registered thumping wins in their respective group league matches of the 2nd Airtel Santosh Kumar Roy invitation Twenty20 cricket tournament at Nehru Stadium here. While FCI tamed Bud Cricket Club, Guwahati by nine wickets in the morning match, Air India defeated Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) XI, Calcutta by 42 runs in the afternoon. Put to bat first, the Bud men were all out off the last ball for 121 runs. FCI reached 124 for one in 19.1 overs. Rishav Das topscored for Bud with 44 (4x4, 6x2), facing 35 balls, and Bhaskar Kalita contributed 22 (4x3). Ashutosh Sharma of FCI took three wickets, conceding 22 runs, and Ankit Rawat and Pankaj Thakur took two wickets each. C.P. Saini remained unbeaten on 75 off 53 balls and Saransh Thakur scored another unbeaten knock of 34. Saini was named Man of the Match. FCI’s victory, however, went in vain, as HMV RS Academy, Delhi, have already qualified for the final on Sunday. In the second match, Air India elected to bat and scored 160 for seven, chasing which, the Bengal boys were bundled out for 118 in 19.2 overs. Safiq Khan (69, 4x4, 6x3) was the topscorer for Air India, to be named Man of the Match. Rashmi Ranjan Parida scored 29, sharing a third-wicket partnership of 42 runs with Khan. For CAB, tailender Raja Adhikari topscored with 30 (4x4, 6x1) off 21 balls and opener Avirup Gupta chipped in with 29 (4x1, 6x1). Tomorrow, Air India will clash with Guwahati Cricket Coaching Centre. Dibrugarh tourney The Dibrugarh Cricket Coaching Centre (DCCC), with assistance from the Dibrugarh District Sports Association (DDSA) and the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) is organising a prize money T20 cricket tournament from March 15, reports our correspondent from Dibrugarh. The matches will be played in the day as well as under floodlights at the Chowkidingee ground here. The opening match will be played from 4pm on March 15.