President XI in doldrums

Hyderabad: The comeback bid by Test discard Gautam Gambhir suffered a jolt when all he could manage was a patient 42 from 129 balls, which, despite a fighting century by Nitesh Rana (127), could not prevent ONGC surrendering a crucial first innings of 81 runs to India Cements on the second day of the first round of the All India Coromandel King Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Invitation Cricket Tournament at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium (RGICS) here on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the match between FCI and MRF is poised for an exciting finish. The former, trailing in the first innings by 13, went to stumps a mere 21 runs lead with four batsmen back in the pavilion. Although, Hyderabad XI was comfortably placed against Air India, Hyderabad President XI was in the doldrums against Sri Lanka, thanks to a marvelous 156 by Kushal Mendis and an equally gusty 93 ny Milinda Sririwardene.

Brief scores-Day-2: Hyderabad XI 465 for 7 vs Air India 337 for 9 (Hiten Dalal 74, Himanshu Asnora 82, Rahul Yadav 40, Ashish Reddy 2/58, CV Milind 3/61, Vishal Sharma 4/72); FCI 283 & 34 for 4 vs MRF 296 (T Sangunam 69, Washington S 131, Anirudh S 42, Prashanth Chowdhary 4/ 61, Pulkit N 4/103); Hyderabad President XI 290 vs Sri Lanka 401 for 8 (Kushal Mendis 156, Milinda Siriwardene 93, Lahiru Milantha 57no, Ahmed Quadri 4/62, T Ravi Teja 2/41, Sakeeth Sai Ram 2/112); India Cements 353 & 1 for no loss vs ONGC 272(Nitesh Rana 127, Gautham Gambhir 42, M Ranga Rajan 4/55, L Vignesh 3/52, L Balaji 2/39).