A skipper’s all-round performance by U. Vishal (84 & two for 31), helped SRM University, Chennai, to storm into the quarter-finals in the South Zone Inter-University Men’s Cricket Tournament 2019-20, by beating JNTU, Kakinada, by 63-runs in the pre-quarterfinal match played at the Maharaja’s College Grounds here yesterday.

Winning the toss and electing to bat, SRM University got off to a decent start with openers U. Vishal (84, 73b, 9×4) and Vignesh S. Iyer (39, 32b, 5×4) adding 88-runs for the opening wicket. Later the innings was consolidated by a 88-run third wicket partnership between skipper Vishal and A.V.R. Rathnam (43, 39b, 5×4), which boosted the team’s total to 191 for five in 25 overs.

In reply, JNTU, Kakinada, scored 128/9 in 25 overs, falling short of the target by 63-runs. T. Vinay (28) and K. Dheeraj Lakshman (26) were the contributors.

Left-arm spinner R. Mukesh impressed for SRM University by taking three for 19. SRM skipper M.U. Vishal was adjudged as the ‘Man of the Match.’

In the other pre-quarter-final matches, University of Madras, Chennai, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore and Anna University, Chennai, won their respective matches and have entered the quarter-finals.

Last year’s winner Jain University, Bengaluru, runner-up University of Mysore, third-place winners JNTU, Hyderabad and fourth placed team Hindustan University, Chennai, have been directly seeded into the quarter-finals which will begin tomorrow.

Scores – Pre-quarter-finals

SRM University, Chennai: 191/5 in 25 overs (U. Vishal 84, A.V.R. Rathnam 43, Vignesh V. Iyer 39, G. Chandu 2/34) bt JNTU, Kakinada: 128/9 in 25 overs (T. Vinay 28, K. Dheeraj Lakshman 26, R. Mukesh 3/19, Siddarth S. Ahuja 2/30, R. Sashidharan 2/9, U. Vishal 2/31); Man of the Match: U. Vishal.

University of Madras, Chennai: 104 in 21 overs (R. Lokesh 4/13, T. Deepa Arasu 4/31, N. Kothandaraman 2/16) bt Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Viswa Mahavidyalaya (SCSVMV), Kanchipuram: 78 in 22.2 overs (R. Thameem Ansari 3/12, D. Lokesh Raj 2/8, M. Silambarasan 2/12, S. Aravind 2/23); Man of the Match: R. Lokesh.

University of Calicut, Malappuram: 109/9 in 25 overs (K.K.Girish Kumar 31 n.o., E.U. Mohammed Anas 26, V. Bharath Kumar 4/21, Shriram Chandramouli 2/12) lost to Anna University, Chennai: 110/6 in 21 overs (Naveen Rajkumar 30 n.o., Vaibhav Sankaran 25, Aditya Mohan 2/23, E.U. Mohammed Anas 2/21); Man of the Match: Shriram Chandramouli.

Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli: 182/8 in 25 overs (N. Niranjan 55, F. Edwin Richard 43, K. Meganathan 28, A. Abhinash 25, S. Rohit 3/38, S. Sangameshwar 2/39, A.V. Abhilash 2/30) lost to Bharathiar University, Coimbatore: 183/2 in 22.1 overs (A.V. Abhilash 73, Md. Ashik 65, S. Vijay 39 n.o.); Man of the Match: A.V. Abhilash.