Mandar Phadke serves notice

It was Phadke8217;s second century in as many matches. He had scored 117 against Rashtriya Chemicals amp; Fertilisers RCF in IOC8217;s earlier match.

Sun-Grace left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar extended his fine bowling display in thetournament by claiming three wickets for 72 runs.

The two teams are assured of making it to the last four having garnered 16 and 11 points respectively.

The teams having more interest in the last round are the ones doing battle at RCF ground, Chembur. RCF have no points and Central Railway five. The one who finishes in the cellar will face relegation.

Ex-Test star Balwinder Singh Sandhu determined to keep RCF side in contention donned the white flannels. Turning out for a Times Shield match after almost a decade, Sandhu exhibited his batting prowess with an entertaining 39 that included five boundaries and two sixes as RCF made a respectable 247-7 at close.

Earlier opener Sachin Kakdekar 56, veteran Suhas Mayekar 86 and Pune under-19 lad Kaushik Aphale 39 were the other principal scorers.

RCF, who were looking good for a 300-plus score after losing their first two games, were rudely shaken by medium-pacer Satyen Yadav who claimed three for eight in three overs two of which were maidens. He hadthe wickets of Sandhu, Aphale and Maharashtra under-19 skipper Kapil Laghate.

In Group A8217; Western Railway fought gamely against defending champions Elf Lubricants when batting all day to score 280 for seven at the Oval. Elf needed a draw to make the last four while Western need a win. India under-19 opener Anshu Jain 57: 137b, 9215;4 and Nitin Surve 87: 159b, 9215;4, 3215;6 provided a superb start raising 153 on a day of fluctuating fortunes.

After the openers8217; departed, Abey Kuruvilla triggered a collapse with two quick wickets. Later in the last session of the day, left-hander Irfan Pathan from Baroda pushed Elf back with an unbeaten 39 4215;4, 2215;6 after Kunal More had scored 26.

Western Railway8217;s exciting recruit Shreyas Khanolkar failed to make any impact being dismissed by left-arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni for 16.Kuruvilla and Kulkarni shared the spoils claiming three and two wickets respectively.

Group A leaders Tata Sports Club who needed a draw in their last game, were on course, with four of theirtop five batsmen getting fifty plus scores against Air-India at the MiG Club, ground, Bandra. Skipper Lalchand Rajput led from the front raking up an unbeaten 86. The ex-Test opener was involved in unbroken stand of 147 runs as Tatas ended the day at 267 for three.

Air-India medium-pacers Bhupinder Singh and Ashutosh Dube, bowling on their home ground, had no cheer as Tata openers Nikhil Haldipur and Manoj Joglekar laid the foundation realising 102 runs. Haldipur, who had got out in the nineties in the previous game, made 51 when he was bowled by off-spinner Faisal Shaikh. The other opener Manoj Joglekar 53 didn8217;t last long after Haldipur departed caught by Phadnis off left-armer Jacob Faroz.

However, Rajput and Shetty thwarted Air-India for the next three hours with a fine association.

Brief Scores

Tata Sports Club India 267-3 Nikhil Haldipur 51, Manoj Joglekar 53, Lalchand Rajput batting 84, Nishit Shetty batting 58 vs Air-India.

Western Railway 280-7 Anshu Jain57, Nitin Surve 87, Kunal More 26, Irfan Pathan batting 39, Abey Kuruvilla 3-60, Nilesh Kulkarni 2-70 vs Elf Lubricants.

Rashtriya Chemicals amp; Fertilisers 247-7 Sachin Kakdekar 56, Suhas Mayekar 86, Kaushik Aphale 39, Balwinder Singh Sandhu 39, Satyen Yadav 3-8 vs Central Railway.

Indian Oil 330-9 Mandar Phadke batting 170, Iqbal Siddiqui 37, Amit Dani 36, Ashish Saxena 33, Rajesh Pawar 3-72, Rohan Salvi 2-42 vs Sun-Grace Mafatlal.