Andhra, Tripura well placed in BBM All-India cricket

Ganeswar Rao and D Swaroop Kumar cracked a half-century each to help Andhra compile a healthy total of 322 runs against Jharkhand on the opening day of their two-day group league match of the 1st All-India Basant Biswal Memorial Cricket Tournament at Ravenshaw University ground in Cuttack today. Rao slammed 89 (111 balls, 4x11, 6x1), while Swaroop Kumar cracked 66 (124 balls, 4x2, 6x2). Put into bat, Andhra got off to a sound start with openers Hamel Vatekar (25) and Manoj Sai (45) stitching together 68 runs. The middle order continued the goodwork to help the southern side end the day on a happy note. However, Andhra still failed to bat for the full 90 overs. Sujit Kumar and Sunny Gupta shared all the 10 wickets for Jharkhand with the former returning with an impressive haul of six for 78 and the latter claiming four for 76. In another group league match at Barabati Stadium, Tripura were better placed at 90 for four, in reply to Assam’s disappointing total of 133. In a 90-over game, Assam were bowled out in 50 overs after being put into bat. Gokul Sharma was the only Assam batsman, who put up some resistence with a patient 44. The lucrative tournament, offering cash prizes of Rs 1 lakh for the winners and Rs 50,000 for the runners-up, is being hosted by Orissa Cricket Association. Brief scores: At Ravenshaw University ground: Andhra 322/10 in 83.5 overs (Ganeswar Rao 89, D Swaroop Kumar 66, Manoj Sai 45, B Sumanta 42, Hamel Vatekar 25: Sujit Kumar 6/78, Sunny Gupta 4/76) vs Jharkhand. At Barabati Stadium: Assam 133/10 in 50 overs (Gokul Sharma 44, Rana Sharma 26: Subal Chowdhary 2/7, Sanjib Saha 2/23, Rana Dutta 2/32) vs Tripura 90/4 in 38 overs (Rajib Saha 37, Rajesh Banik 27). Meena Madhuri selected for World Cup Rowing Orissa girl Meen Madhuri has been selected to represent India in the Rowing World Cup II Championship to be held at Munich, Germany, from June 15 to 22, a release from Orissa Association for Rowing and Sculling announced today.