 Chemplast win the Hindu Trophy
“What’s a nice freedom fighter’s name doing in a scorecard like this?” was the question uppermost in the minds of those not familiar with Chennai’s league cricketers, after young Subramania Siva made a quickfire 90 in the final of The Hindu Trophy tournament on April 20 at the MAC Stadium, Chennai, helping his side Chemplast Sanmar reach an imposing 224 for 6 in the allotted thirty overs. One-time India opening bowler Tinu Yohannan — another name known outside cricket, and made famous by Tinu’s father, the athlete — followed this with an excellent spell of medium pace to scalp three batsmen and made sure Chemplast emerged winners by a huge margin. The losing finalists, India Pistons, yet to win a major title in Chennai cricket and known to be bridesmaid rather than the bride over the decades, once again flattered only to deceive.
For Chemplast, it was a satisfactory end to a successful season in all-India terms, but one in which the Palayampatti Shield eluded its grasp after five consecutive titles in the past five seasons. Losing in the final of the VAP Trophy, as well, Chemplast came back nicely to wrest the Hindu Trophy after a lapse of 12 seasons.
On its way to the final, India Pistons — a team which owed its popularity in the past to such crowd-pullers as S Venkataraghavan and T E Srinivasan and competitors as Ravi Mishra, K Jayaraman, R Madhavan, C S Suresh Kumar and A P Suresh Kumar to name a handful of them — made 209 for 6 against Indian Bank in the semi-finals, with D Dhandapani making 69 in 70 balls, and Suresh Babu smashing an unbeaten 71 in a mere 44 deliveries. Veteran R G Shyam Sundar retorted with 66 in 54 balls, but crafty off spinner M A Satish Kumar, belonging to the late ‘Marker’ Muthu’s family of talented cricketers, took four for 47 and left arm spinner Babu accounted for three wickets. The bank team was all out for 184.
The other semi-final was relatively one-sided, with India Cements making only 130 for 8 against sustained Chemplast bowling led by young medium pacer A Avinash, one of the finds of the season. In Chemplast Sanmar’s reply of 133 for 5, R Sathish was outstanding with an unbeaten 48.
If man of the match Subramania Siva and Hemang Badani (45) fairly took the final away from India Pistons, Tinu Yohannan’s effort was admirable, as he was coming back from a long lay-off forced by injury. He was below his best pace, but extracted bounce and movement while bowling with great accuracy.
He was well supported by veteran off spinner J Ramdas bowling with the enthusiasm and effectiveness of a youngster in his prime and the Pistons batsmen were never really in the hunt, though skipper S Ramesh (52 not out) offered some token resistance.
A spectacular moment in the final was a run out by Chemplast’s R Sathish, who, despite a ligament injury in the foot, swooped down on the ball at point and threw down the stumps in one seamless motion. Seen by many as a future star from Tamil Nadu, Sathish exemplified the youthful spirit of the Chemplast team in all he did through an eventful season.
With this victory, Chemplast Sanmar once again emphasised their dominance of Chennai cricket. One of the better combinations in the city, MRF, have stayed away from this exciting limited overs competition for the last few years, presumably following a disputed final that ended in a courtroom drama. By returning to the tournament next season, MRF will not only make it a little more competitive, they will afford their players yet another opportunity to exhibit their talents.
V Ramnarayan
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