Hiten Dalal slams unbeaten 204 to help Air India gain lead

Delhi collegian Hiten Dalal slammed an unbeaten 204 (214 balls, 19 fours, seven sixes) to help Air India take a comfortable 115-run lead against Food Corporation of India XI in a group A league game in the Coromandel Kings Moin-ud-Dowla Gold Cup tournament at the John's Demarc Cricket Academy ground in Hakimpet near Hyderabad on Monday.

A combination of rain and bad light on the second day of the four three-day games saw Air India become the only team to assure itself of at least three points from the second round. Hosts Hyderabad Cricket Association XI, riding on early shocks delivered by recently acquired paceman Sudeep Tyagi, needs four MRF XI wickets on Tuesday to take the lead.

Tyagi's erstwhile Uttar Pradesh team-mate Tanmay Srivastava led ONGC's charge against Sri Lankan Development XI in a Group B game with an unbeaten 78. On a day when his senior colleague, Gautam Gambhir fell cheaply yet again, Srivastava and Nitesh Rana (batting 55) took ONGC to within 75 runs of the overseas team's score of 249.

India Cements consolidated its first innings score past the 400-run mark, thanks to half-centuries by former India wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik and Baba Aparajith, whose twin Baba Indrajith missed the minor milestone by a whisker. HCA President's XI batsmen B Anirudh and Himalay Agarwal to battled hard but the home side needs 241 runs in 35 overs to take the lead on Tuesday.

Brief scores:

Group A

Hyderabad Cricket Association XI 347 in 89.4 overs (B Sandeep 33, G Hanuma Vihari 127, B Yatin Reddy 74, Mehdi Hasan 33 not out, Sunil Sam four for 90, Nathu Singh four for 44, Washington Sundar two for 108). MRF 146 for six in 42 overs (Vasudeva Das 37, Venugopal Rao batting 34, Sudeep Tyagi three for 30, Mehdi Hasan three for 35) at Vijaynand Gardens.

FCI 251 in 75 overs. Air India 366 for four in 78 overs (Manvinder Bisla 59, Hiten Dalal batting 204, Pulkit Narang two for 135) at Johns Demarc Cricket Academy ground.

Group B:

India Cements 413 for four in 90 overs (R Rohit 95, Abhinav Mukund 142, Dinesh Karthik 61 Baba Aparajith 50, Baba Indrajith 48, AM Rajendra three for 124). Hyderabad Cricket Association Presidents XI 173 for two in 55 overs (Danny Derek Prince 41, B Anirudh batting 56, Himalay Agarwal batting 52) at Gymkhana ground.

Sri Lankan Development XI 249 in 77.3 overs (Kusal Mendis 47, Angelo Jayasinghe 75, Lahiru Milantha 47, Navdeep Saini two for 35, S Bhati two for 75, Resham Sharma three for 46, Mohd Saif three for 30). ONGC 172 for two in 46 overs (Tanmay Srivastava batting 78, Nitesh Rana batting 55) at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.