Buchi Babu | Sumit Kushwah-Rishabh Chouhan tango takes Madhya Pradesh to a strong position

Opener Sumit Kushwah (82 batting) and middle-order batter Rishabh Chouhan’s (79 batting) unbeaten half-centuries helped Madhya Pradesh end the opening day of the All Buchi Babu tournament semifinal on a strong 226 for three against TNCA XI at the NPR College Grounds here on Saturday.

Electing to bat, MP lost opener Arham Aqueel early when he tried to take on R. Sai Kishore and holed out in the deep. Later, medium-pacer Nidhish Rajagopal gave TN an opening when he struck twice in a space of three balls on either side of the lunch break.

He first removed skipper Shubham Sharma caught behind with extra bounce at the stroke of lunch and two balls later, had Aniket Verma caught pulling as MP slumped to 80 for three.

However, Kushwah and Chouhan ensured MP recovered as they stitched an unbroken 146-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

In the other semifinal at Salem, Delhi finished on 277 for six against Chhattisgarh after electing to bat first riding on half-centuries from openers Arpit Rana and Vaibhav Sharma.

The duo added 81-runs together before Chhattisgarh fought back with four quick wickets as Delhi was reduced to 148 for four. Sumit Mathur’s 52 helped Delhi recover from the mini slump.

The scores: Delhi 277/6 in 87 overs (Arpit Rana 51, Vaibhav Sharma 60, Vaibhav Kandpal 42, Sumit Mathur 52) vs Chhattisgarh. Toss: Delhi.

Madhya Pradesh 226/3 in 90 overs (Sumit Kushwah 82 batting, Rishabh Chouhan 79 batting) vs TNCA XI. Toss: MPCA.