Buchi Babu | Chhattisgarh enter finals after playing a draw against TNCA XI

TNCA XI bowler Lakshya Jain in action against Chhattisgarh in the Buchi Babu Cricket Tournament at Natham in Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu on Thursday, September 05, 2024. | Photo Credit: G. Karthikeyan

Off-spinner Lakshya Jain took five wickets as Chhattisgarh made 207 for eight in their second innings and their match against TNCA XI ended in a draw on the fourth day of the Buchi Babu semi-final at the NPR College Cricket Ground in Natham on Thursday.

The match looked likely to be a draw on Wednesday after Chhattisgarh secured a first innings lead to seal a place in the final but decided not to enforce a follow-on.

Lakshya took ten wickets for 216 runs in the match.

He extracted commendable turn to get two dismissals. Mohammad Irfan missed his front-foot block as the ball swung and hit his back pad and he was trapped leg before wicket. Amandeep Khare (77, 94b, 8×4, 2×6) missed his wide cover drive as the ball swung and hit the stumps.

Amandeep Khare in action against TNCA XI in the Buchi Babu Cricket Tournament at Natham, Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu on Thursday, September 05, 2024. | Photo Credit: G. Karthikeyan

Amandeep had earlier smashed two consecutive sixes – off left-arm spinner Ajith Ram and standing delivery off medium pacer Nidheesh S Rajagopal. He shared a 60-run stand for the seventh wicket with left-hander Gagandeep Singh (30, 91b, 2×4, 1×6).

Earlier, Jeevesh Butt got a full delivery on the front boot in front of middle stump that missed his leg glance, and was trapped lbw by pacer Achyuta. Left-hander Anuj Tiwary (40, 112b, 2×4, 1×6) was out six overs later when he missed a sweep off the target ball and was caught in front.

The umpires ended the match at 2.12 pm after discussing with the captains.

Scores (semi-finals, day 4): Chhattisgarh 467 in 150.5 overs (Ayush Pandey 82, Anuj Tiwary 93, Amandeep Khare 97, Pratik Yadav 109, Ajit Ram 4/115, Lakshya Jain 5/152) and 207/8 in 82 overs (Anuj Tiwary 40, Amandeep Khare 77, Lakshya Jain 5/64) drew the match with TNCA XI 194 in 64.4 overs (Gagandeep Singh 4/34).