Shankar’s ton helps TN crush Assam

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu skipper Vijay Shankar made an impressive return from injury by smashing a blistering 99-ball 129 inclusive of seven sixes to power the team to a comprehensive 130-run win over Assam in the Vijay Hazare Trophy Elite Group ‘C’ league here Thursday.

Electing to bat after Shankar won the toss, the home team got off to a brisk start as N Jagadeesan (37) and Abhinav Mukund (71) put on 50 in 11 overs.

The former fell to leg-spinner Amit Sinha while Mukund and Indrajith added 43 runs for the second wicket. Mukund (71) was also dismissed by Sinha.

This brought Indrajith (92) and Shankar together and they dominated the rival attack after a cautious start.

The captain, who had missed two matches due to a thumb injury, reached his century off 83 deliveries.

In another match of the same group, left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem was among the wickets again, scalping five for 17 to help Jharkhand beat Jammu & Kashmir by 73 runs.

Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 334/4 in 50 ovs (V Shankar 129, B Indrajith 92, A Mukund 71) bt Assam 204 in 44.1 ovs (R Parag 45; V Chakravathi 2/40);

Haryana 304 in 49.2 ovs (P Chandila 88; Tanveer Ul-haq 3/62) bt Rajasthan 157 in 46.4 ovs (A Lamba 46*; H Patel 3/19); Jharkhand 221/8 in 50 ovs (A Roy 96*; W Raza 3/51) bt J&K 148 in 42.2 ovs (M Mudhasir 53*; S Nadeem 5/17).

CONTRASTING WINS FOR THAKKAR, CHERAG

MUMBAI:MUMBAI’S Rishabh Thakkar had to quell an inspired challenge from Dhaval Gadhvi of Pune to win 3-2 (67-30, 62-0, 15-57, 47-70, 64-35) in a Group-e roundrobin league match of the Maharashtra State Senior Snooker & Billiards Selection Championship 2018 on Thursday.

In another match, Cherag Ramakrishan also from Mumbai, put up a steady display and overcame Kaiwalya Chavan of Satara 3-1 (50-36, 67-44, 40-64, 70-50).