Uthappa stars as AI (R) lift Corporate Trophy

Bangalore: Robin Uthappa cracked an unbeaten 157 and Yuvraj Singh took three crucial wickets as Air India Red clinched the BCCI Corporate Trophy, beating Air India Blue by 93 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Tuesday.

Put into bat, Air India Red first posted a challenging 284 for eight riding on Uthappa's blistering 148-ball innings and then shot out Air India Blue for a meagre 191 in 41.5 overs to win the ODI tournament.

Air India Red skipper Yuvraj emerged the wrecker-in-chief as he took three crucial wickets, which included the prized scalps of Kaif (32) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (0) in consecutive balls. Reetinder Sodhi (11) was his third victim.
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Chasing 285 to win, Air India Blue lost opener Manvinder Bisla (10) in the fourth over but Kaif and Chandan Madan played sensibly and forged a 74-run partnership to reach 86 in 15 overs.

Looking for a wicket, Yuvraj introduced himself into the attack and got rid of Kaif and Dhoni in successive balls to leave Air India Blue tottering at 88 for three in 16.2 overs.

Madan stood tall amid the ruins scoring a defiant 85 in 126 balls with the help of nine fours before perishing in the 42nd over as Air India Blue looked down the barrel.

Earlier, Uthappa blasted 11 fours and six sixes to single-handedly anchor Air India Red's innings, while Sushant Marathe (36), Suresh Raina (28) chipped in with useful contributions after Air India Blue skipper Harbhajan Singh won the toss and inserted the opponents.

Air India Red didn't make an ideal start as they lost opener Naman Ojha (0) of the second ball of the innings but Marathe (36 off 32) sent the first ball of the next over for a boundary and stitched together a 79-run second-wicket partnership with Uthappa to steady the innings.

Uthappa blended composure with aggression and picked up ones and twos while scoring odd boundaries in between to keep the scoreboard ticking.

Even though wickets kept tumbling at the other end, Uthappa stood firm to guide his team to a commanding position.

After Marathe was sent packing by Harbhajan in the 14th over, Yuvraj Singh (17 off 39), Raina (28 off 24) and Paul Valthaty (18) couldn't convert the starts, leaving it to Uthappa to rescue the innings.

For Air India Blue, Harbhajan Singh took four wickets and Pankaj Singh bagged two, while RP Singh and Sachin Rana scalped one each.

Ankeet Chavan picked three wickets and Dhawal Kulkarni picked one to help their team.
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Sparking knocks from Dravid and Badrinath

S Badrinath (90) and Rahul Dravid (63) hit sparkling half-centuries to guide Indian Cements to a 25-run victory over BSNL in a rain-delayed Group D match of the BCCI Corporate Cup here tonight.

Put into bat, the Dravid-led India Cements posted 253 for five in 47 overs and then returned to restrict their opponents to 228 for nine to stay in contention for a semifinal berth.

BSNL, who had lost to Air India Red yesterday, crashed out of contention with their second successive defeat.

The telecom men faltered early in their chase and despite a fighting 51 from Anshul Kapoor and Joginder Sharma's 30-ball 34, BSNL never really looked in chase.

Earlier, Indian Cements also struggled to get going before Badrinath (90 off 108 balls) and Dravid (63 off 77 balls) rescued them and then Suresh Kumar came up with a 42-run cameo off 40 balls to raise the tally.
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Gavaskar finds form as Tata get off to winning start

Tata Sports Club got off to a winning start in the Corporate Cup thanks to an ICL-returnee, Rohan Gavaskar, who struck 93 against All India Public Sector Sports Promotion Board (AIPSSPB) in Dharamsala. Rain had reduced the game to 36 overs a side and Tata, after being sent in, managed 241 for 8. Gavaskar took control after the loss of two early wickets, smashing seven fours and three sixes in his knock, which came at less than a run a ball. Ajit Agarkar's breezy cameo of 43 off 34 balls towards the end pushed the score towards a match-winning one. Agarkar, the captain, was back in business early with the ball when he clean bowled Nilesh Patwardhan and Rajinder Bisht in successive overs. Paras Dogra was the next to go, excellently caught at third man by Tushar Garat, who covered a lot of ground to get underneath the ball. The early loss of wickets didn't help the run rate, as AIPSSPB managed only two an over after ten. Pankaj Thakur delayed the inevitable by helping himself to a half-century, as his team ended on 168.

In another rain-interrupted game, in Visakhapatnam, Madras Rubber Factory (MRF) beat Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) by 12 runs. MRF opted to bat but were bowled out within 50 overs for 191. Gnaneswara Rao top scored with 53 off 74 balls with four fours but the rest couldn't carry on after making starts. The BPCL batsmen also struggled to get going, and were in trouble at one stage at 58 for 5. PK Dharma, the right-arm seamer, did the damage when he was introduced first change, picking up three wickets. Rain intervened with the score at 86 for 5 and the target was then revised to 185 in 46 overs by the VJD Method. There was another rain intervention when BPCL proceeded to 120 for 6 in 28.3 overs. However, no further play was possible and BPCL found themselves 12 short of the required score at that stage. Dharma was named the Man of the Match for his 3 for 22.

The match between Air India Blue and Indian Tobacco Company (ITC) was abandoned without a ball being bowled because of heavy overnight rain in Mohali. Despite the sun coming out in the afternoon, the groundstaff were unable to get the outfield ready, and the captains called off the game at 6pm. The match will replayed on Friday, the scheduled rest day.

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Rohan's classy 93 powers Tata to victory

Rohan Gavaskar returned to the official fold in style with a classy 93 to guide Tata SC to an emphatic 71-run victory over All India Public Sector Sports Promotion Board (AIPSSPB) in the rain-truncated first Group C match of the Sahara BCCI Corporate Cup at Dharamshala.

Gavaskar, playing his first official tournament after snapping ties with the Indian Cricket League, displayed some fluent strokemaking and in skipper Ajit Agarkar's company, took the Tata SC to a formidable 241 for eight after the matched was reduced to a 36 overs-a-side affair due to rain.

In reply, the AIPSSPB batsmen struggled from the beginning and could manage only 170 for nine wickets in their stipulated 36 overs.

AIPSSPB needed a good start but Tata skipper Agarkar unleashed fire in his opening spell and drew first blood in his second over, rocking Nilesh Patwardhan's stumps.

He again came to the party in his next over and cleaned up the other opener Rajinder Bisht.

Paras Dogra followed suit without opening his account, courtesy an excellent running catch by Tushar Gharath at third man off Usman Malvi bowling as the public sector side reeled at 20 for three at the end of 10 overs.

Akash Malhotra (32 off 35) and Pankaj Thakur (50 off 52) did show some resistence and tried to bring the AIPSSPB innings back on track but the task was too much for them.
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Strong Air India Red field

Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

In an unconventional start to the 2009-10 domestic season, Yuvraj Singh went out for the toss with Joginder Singh, a 29-year-old yet to play first-class cricket. Yuvraj, the captain of a strong Air India Red side, won the toss and asked BSNL to bat first in the inaugural BCCI Corporate Trophy match. Thus began the domestic season.

A 15-minute downpour at 1.30pm in Bangalore failed to delay the toss, but could have played a part in Yuvraj's decision. Air India Red chose to rest Irfan Pathan, but they still with Yuvraj, Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa and Dhawal Kulkarni in, they cleary started the favourites against a side none of whose players has international experience.

Air India Red: Robin Uthappa, Naman Ojha (wk), Yuvraj Singh (capt), Suresh Raina, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Sushant Marathe, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ajit Chandila, Ankeet Chavan, Mun Mangela and Saurabh Netravalkar

BSNL: Joginder Singh (capt), Ankur Kakkar, Arindam Das, Varun Kumar (wk), Anshul Kapoor, Niranjan Behera, Biswa Mohapatra, Sanjay Bamel, NS Negi, Sunil Dholpure and Kamlesh Makvana

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