Deshpande props up President's XI

A century by Pavan Deshpande (108, 135b, 10x4) kept KSCA President's XI in the hunt against National Cricket Academy at stumps on the third and penultimate day of their semifinal match in the KSCA's All-India invitational cricket tournament here Saturday.

After a massive first innings deficit of 229 runs, the President's XI were 411 for nine in their second innings with Deshpande holding fort, raising expectations of a tight finish Sunday.

In the other semi-final, Haryana CA, after taking a first innings lead of 159 runs against KSCA Colts, consolidated their position as they made 114 for five in their second essay.

Brief scores:

Haryana CA 405 all out and 114 for 5 in 26 overs (Sachin Rana 48, R Dalal 37 not out, Prasidh Krishna 2/32, Gowtham K 2/45) vs KSCA Colts 246 all out in 80.1 overs (Dinesh Borwankar 35, Gowtham K 40, Suchith J 47, Ashish Hooda 2/30, Jayant Yaav 4/89, Harshal Patel 3/48).

KSCA President's XI 214 all out and 411 fof 9 in 95.4 overs (Nidish M 60, Suneel Raju 36, Pavan Deshpande 108, Anirudh Joshi 49, Abrar Kazi 72 not out, Chirag Khurana 5/79, Deepak Chahar 2/82) vs National Cricket Academy 443 all out.