Mukund, Shankar guide TN to comprehensive win over Assam
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu skipper Vijay Shankar made an impressive return from injury by smashing a blistering 99-ball 129 inclusive of seven sixes, while southpaw Abhinav Mukund scored 71, to power the team to a comprehensive 130-run win over Assam in the Vijay Hazare Trophy Elite Group ‘C’ league here Thursday.
In another match, left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem scalped five for 17 to help Jharkhand beat Jammu & Kashmir by 73 runs. Meanwhile, Haryana rode on Pramod Chandila’s knock of 88 to thump Rajasthan by 147 runs. Tamil Nadu lie fourth in the points table with 12 points from five games, while Jharkhand are on top with 18.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 334/4 in 50 ovs (V Shankar 129, B Indrajith 92, A Mukund 71) beat Assam 204 in 44.1 ovs (V Chakravathi 2/40, B Aparajith 2/42) by 130 runs; Haryana 304 all out in 49.2 ovs (P Chandila 88, H Rana 44, T Haq 3/62) beat Rajasthan 157 all out in 46.4 ovs (H Patel 3/19) by 147 runs; Jharkhand 221/8 in 50 ovs (A Roy 96*, W Raza 3/51) beat J&K 148 in 42.2 ovs (S Nadeem 5/17) by 73 runs.
WANG, BARTY THROUGH
WUHAN: Local favourite Wang Qiang demolished Olympic champion Monica Puig 6-3, 6-1 at the Wuhan Open in China on Thursday to cruise to the semi-finals. Earlier, Australia’s Ashleigh Barty had to dig deep to beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 and reach the semis.
CAS OPENS RUSSIA CASE
MOSCOW: The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has launched an arbitration procedure a day after the Russian athletics federation appealed against the decision by global athletics body IAAF to extend its suspension, CAS said on Thursday. CAS confirmed the federation was looking to void the IAAF’s decision in July to prolong the ban and regain Russia’s full IAAF membership.
‘NERVOUS’ TIGER READY
SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES: Tiger Woods expects some nervous excitement when he steps on the first tee for the trophy-holders United States against Europe in the Ryder Cup before 7,000 screaming spectators at Le Golf National. “There’s a lot of nerves. It’s excitement. It’s something we don’t get to experience in that regard because basically it’s the final round of a tournament on the very first hole and every match you tee it up. It’s a different atmosphere and one that we absolutely love,” he said.