PANAJI
Chhattisgarh outplayed hosts Goa by seven wickets in the fourth-round fixture of the CK Nayudu Trophy at the GCA Academy Ground, Porvorim on Wednesday.
Resuming on 180-6, Goa added another 84 runs in the morning session before their second innings was brought to a close at 264-9 in 97.3 overs. Opener Vaibhav Govekar did not bat in the innings due to illness. The eighth-wicket partnership of 64 runs (135b) between top-scorer and middle-order bat Yogesh Kauthankar, who made a composed 80, and Rohan Bogati (16) was the saving grace of an otherwise abject batting display. In the Chattisgarh attack, right-arm off-break bowlers Utkarsh Tiwari and Deepak Singh took three wickets each.
Set a target of only 90, the visitors lost their openers, Aditya Singh (2) and Sanidhya Hurkat (6), with only 10 runs on the board. Prateek Yadav, who made a quickfire 29, stitched a run-a-ball 55-run third-wicket stand with Harsh Sharma (35 not out) to take Chattisgarh closer to victory. The visitors' captain, Gagandeep Singh (16*) scored the winning runs in style with a sixer off right-arm off-break Yash Porob, with Harsh at the non-striker's end.
The U-25 Goa side play their next multi-day match against Arunachal Pradesh from January 29 at Sanguem Cricket Ground.
SCORES: Goa 1st inns 207 in 63.4 ov (Vaibhav Govekar 69, Ashish Chouhan 7-68); Chhattisgarh 1st inns 382 in 121.4 ov (Sanjeet Desai 128, Gagandeep Singh 76, Keith Pinto 4-85); Goa 2nd inns 2nd inns 264/9 in 97.3 ov (Yogesh Kauthankar 80, UM Tiwari 3-29, Deepak Singh 3-66); Chhattisgarh 2nd inns 92/3 in 19 ov (Harsh Sharma 35*)
