At close of play, Varun were in a very bad shape, losing five second innings wickets for just 72 runs. They will be facing a daunting task on the last day as they still need another 73 runs to make RCF bat again.

RCF, resuming at 92-2, in reply to Varun's total of 160, went on to score 305. The overnight pair of Suhas Mayekar and Nikhil Dixit carried the score to 111, when Dixit gave a return catch to left-arm spinner Digvijay Singh who made 32.

Thereafter, RCF lost two more wickets for the addition of 48 runs and went for lunch at 186-5. After the break, off-spinner Rohit Rane took two quick wickets in one over to reduce RCF to188-7. Rane's victims were Mayekar (60 with 4x4 off 181 balls) and Kaustub Latke (0).

At the other end, left-hander Nitin Sawant was holding the fort, he put on 41 runs for the eighth wicket with Vivek Naravne (17). Sawant made 45 with the help of six fours off 83 balls. Then came the heroic stand for the last wicket.

Inamdar's knock had a six and six hits to the ropes and came off 68 balls, while Prabhudesai's contribution was just ten. Varun had to take the new ball to break the partnership.

Rane, who did not get to bowl on Tuesday, was the most successful bowler with 4-54 in 13 overs, while left-arm spinner Digvijay Singh took 3-101 in 39 overs.

Brief scores

Varun Shipping 160 and 72-5 (Janak Mistry batting 20) vs RCF 305 (Suhas Mayekar 60, Nikhil Dixit 32, Nitin Sawant 46, Sameer Inamdar 52 n.o.; Digvijay Singh 3-101, Rohit Rane 4-54).

Amarnath Rai shines

Rizvi Springfield defeated Shardashram Marathi by 143 runs to enter the semi-finals of the Schools Harris Shield crickettournament, conducted by the MSSA and sponsored by Colgate, at Shivaji Park, yesterday.

Chasing a target of 333 runs, Shardashram collapsed at 189. The hero of Springfield bowling was Amarnath Rai who claimed 4-10. The main scorers for Shardashram were M Chinnoy (45) and Viraj T (32).

Earlier, Springfield had scored 332 runs in the allotted 70 overs. Amarnath Rai (69), Apoorva Srivastav (86) and Deepak Jaiswal (31) were tthe main run-getters for the winners. Left-arm spinner Gavrav Ambedkar of Shardashram claimed 5-94.

Brief Scores: Rizvi Springfield 332-9 in 75 overs bt Shardashram, marathi 189 (Chinmay Madhaya 45, T Viraj 32; Amarnath Rai 4-10, Amit Yadav 2-30).

Ghatkopar qualify

Ghatkopar YMCA and Mastan YMCA junior boys entered the league stage of the Second Fr. Agnel Open Basketball tournament by winning their matches today. Ghatkopar YMCA defeated BTS Sangli 66-38 while Mastan got past Green Star Kolhapur 60-40.

Results

Junior boys: Ghatkopar YMCA 66 (Ralph Gomes 16,Manoj C 15, Azim Shaikh 14) bt BTS Sangli 38 (Aniruddha Sankpal 10, Milind Kadam 13); Mastan YMCA 60 (Amri A 22, B Suleman 8, S Shaikh 12) bt Green Star Kolhapur 40 (B Kamble 17).

Youth Boys: Fr. Agnel `A' 56 (Binoy KB 18, Anup Nair 12, Avinash Amin 11) bt Indian Gymkhana 42 (Rohan Kumar 15, Tejas Arya 7, Sriram Iyer 6).