The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Buchi Babu kicks off today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 14, 2006

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Buchi Babu kicks off today

CHENNAI: The Mindteck Buchi Babu all-India invitational cricket tournament is scheduled to begin here on Monday.

The tournament, which has been conducted by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) for over four decades, features 13 teams including ten outstation teams.

The teams — divided into four zones — will first play in a league format. Each team plays the others in its zone once. The top team from each zone will then contest the semifinals and the tournament will conclude with the final to be played from August 30 at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.

All matches are three-day affairs. The first innings is restricted to 90 overs and the second to 45. Play may be extended on the final day even beyond the one-hour extension till a result is reached if light permits.

The umpires in consultation with the captains can call off play at or after tea on the final day if a lead has been taken in the first innings, and there is no further prospect of a result.

The winner will take home Rs. 1 lakh, while the runner-up will be richer by Rs. 50,000. The losing semifinalists will get Rs. 25,000 each. All outstation teams will receive Rs. 5,000 per match.

The teams:

Zone A: SPIC-TNCA XI, Vidharbha, Tripura; Zone B: AP, Mumbai Colts, MP; Zone C: TNCA President's XI, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Kerala XI; Zone D: Maharashtra, Hyderabad, Combined Districts. — Special Correspondent