All roads led to ACA-VDCA stadium

Visakhapatnam: All roads led to the YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in the port-cum-steel city on Sunday when enthusiasts made a beeline to the place to watch the second One-Day International (ODI) match between the visiting West Indies and India in a day and night encounter.

The high density traffic movement was slow on the National Highway No. 16. Some stopped aside to pick up a tricolour, a cap or a horn from wayside hawkers to cheer the players. A majority of them managed to make it to the venue in time but the latecomers were disappointed as the gates were closed about an hour after the start. They still lingered near the stadium pleading with the officials for an entry with their valid ticket, but in vain. Surprisingly, the stadium was still full thanks to some cops who liberally let in a few inside as the match began.

One such case saw an SI from Chintapalli seeking entry to his folks and when refused, brandished a revolver. When media persons rushed to the spot, he was taken away by his colleagues. Another incident was the arrest of Political Joint Action Committee (JAC) chairman JT Rama Rao who did not want the match to take place and shouted slogans outside. He was taken into custody.

The much-expected Samaikyandhra protests were absent with no din raised, barring at one corner on the north-east where a couple of slogans were heard for two or three minutes. Minister for Tribal Welfare P Balaraju, who is not taking part in the Samaikyandhra movement led by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and local Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, made it a point to attend the match.

The mood was upbeat inside the stadium where Indian batsmen flourished. Virat Kohli dazzled again but to the disappointment of the crowd fell short of his third consecutive century by just one run. Towards the end, captain MS Dhoni hit a quick fire unbeaten half-century with four sixes and three boundaries to put India in a position of strength, falling short of the magical 300 mark by only 12 runs.