A fighting century by Jolly Rovers skipper Ajay Kuduva could not prevent Indian Airlines from making it to the semifinals of the MRF- Buchi Babu invitation tournament. Indian Airlines won their match at the IIT-Chemplast Ground against Jolly Rovers on Saturday by virtue of a better run quotient.

Resuming at 136 for one on the final day, Jolly Rovers lost Sujit Somasundar in the fourth over of the day. Somasundar, who did not add a run to his overnight score of 68, was bowled by Murali Karthik when going for an extravagant sweep. Dinesh Mongia (75) then joined Badrinath and the two forged a useful 93-run partnership for the third wicket in 23 overs. Mongia was easily the more aggressive of the two. In a 78-ball essay, he slammed seven boundaries and three mighty sixes.

But Jolly Rovers lost Mongia before lunch when substitute fielder Onkar Singh at leg slip took the catch when he tried to flick Murali Karthik. Rovers went to lunch at 256 for three. After the break, Badrinath in the company of Ajay Kuduva took the score along to 294 when Badrinath fell to a spectacular catch by VVS Laxman in the slips when the latter top edged Murali Karthik. Badrinath's 85 included four boundary hits.

The fall of Badrinath after a sedate 265-ball innings prompted the Indian Airlines skipper to opt for the new ball and Dodda Ganesh immediately had Ganesh Kumar (0) caught behind. Pegged on the back foot, Kuduva battled along with T Arasu till tea by which time the score was past the 300 run mark. Arasu did not last long and in the second over after tea nicked Veenet Jain for a simple catch to Dahiya.

The last session saw Indian Airlines gaining the upper hand as Kuduva kept losing his partners at regular intervals. But the brave Jolly Rovers skipper waged a lone battle in a losing cause. Though he lost Ram Kumar (9) and Tinu Youhanan (8), he found a perfect foil in L Balaji and in the last hour of play tore the Indian Airlines attack to shreds reaching his century in no time.

But it was an uphill task and Jolly Rovers at the end of the match were 458 for eight, finishing 44 runs behind the Indian Airlines total. The unbroken ninth wicket partnership between Kuduva and Balaji had added 93 runs off just 13 overs. Kuduva remained unbeaten on 115 with the help of 14 crisp hits to the fence. He faced 212 balls. Balaji's unbeaten 32 was scored off 36 balls with three fours and a six.

© CricInfo