G. Ajitesh cracked his maiden tournament hundred (101, 162b, 14×4) as TNCA President’s XI piled on 503 for seven on day two of the Buchi Babu semifinal versus Jammu & Kashmir at the CSK High Performance Centre here on Monday.

Ajitesh added 89 runs for the fifth-wicket stand with Andre Siddarth (57, 211b, 7×4), and 88 for the sixth-wicket union with left-hander R.S. Ambrish (62 batting, 133b, 3×4, 2×6).

Ambrish.
| Photo Credit:
R. RAGU

The toiling J&K bowling unit was hamstrung as left-arm spinner Vanshaj Sharma hurt his bowling shoulder on the field just before lunch and did not return to play for the rest of the day.

Ajitesh’s innings was remarkable for his strong backfoot play – 10 of his 14 fours came off the cut, late cut, and pull. He played the imperious aerial pull twice for a boundary each off left-arm tweaker Abid Mushtaq and off-spinner Kawalpreet Singh. He brought up his century with a backfoot cover drive for a four off Kawalpreet.

The President’s XI batter also paddle-swept for a four to the fine-leg boundary off Mushtaq, and swept a ball from outside the off-stump for a boundary behind square off left-arm spinner Tazeem Tak.

While Andre lofted Vanshaj for a couple of fours down the ground, Ambrish tonked a couple of sixes off Mushtaq to long-on.

The scores (semifinals, day two): TNCA President’s XI 503/7 in 180 overs (Vimal Khumar 112, Pradosh Ranjan Paul 91, Andre Siddarth 57, Ajitesh 101, Ambrish 62 batting) vs Jammu & Kashmir.