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n the TATA Motors Jakarta Cricket Association (JCA) League on Sunday, a fine counterattacking innings by GMIS skipper Naresh Gupta, supported by another century (101 runs) from talented youngster Pratyush Chaturvedi and their massive partnership together, helped set up a much-needed win for the hosts when they defeated a fighting WPP India XI by 29 runs.

Being asked to take first strike after losing the toss, GMIS were in a spot of bother at 50/4 after 10 overs when big-hitting batsman Naresh Gupta walked up to the crease.

With Pratyush batting fluently on 42 runs at the other end, Naresh decided to occupy the crease for as long as he could, which eventually paid off as he held center stage in a match-winning partnership of 180 runs that had the WPP bowlers clueless for the next 19 overs.

Naresh, who is known for hitting massive sixes with nonchalant ease, went into overdrive as he launched 14 hits over the boundary, in a partnership that came in at over 10 runs per over.

His innings of 143 runs overshadowed the fine century by Pratyush, which ended only when Pratyush retired hurt in the 29th over. GMIS finished on 314/9 in 35 overs. With the bat dominating the ball, Vasudevan Parthasarathy (4/53) and Gaurav Pathak (3/37) stood out with the ball for WPP.

In response, WPP with their talented batting lineup were relentless in pursuit of the mammoth target as they were right up there with the required run rate when they reached 201/5 after 24 overs. Vasudevan (56 runs), Vinayak (46 runs) and Partha Kabi (40 runs) forged crucial partnerships to keep WPP in the hunt.

With Bhuvan unbeaten at the drinks break on an aggressive half century, it was going to be an exciting last session.

However, the loss of his wicket immediately after the break for 67 runs ensured that WPP were all-out for 285 runs. Despite battling rain and bad light, WPP did well to come within 29 runs of the target. For GMIS, Manish Semwal and Mohammad Imran took three and two wickets respectively, while Naresh with his part time off-spin accounted for the prized wicket of WPP'€™s skipper Pallav Malhotra.

In another Division 1 game at Cibubur, defending champions KLN WISCI defeated the Jakarta Barbarians by eight wickets in a rain-affected match by virtue of a better run rate. Batting first, the Barbarians could not get going on the bright morning as they lost wickets regularly to be all out for 93 runs.

Debutant Chirag Shah (3/8) and Suhail Modak (3/19) did the most damage with the ball, while Sean Hankin top-scored with 23 runs for the Barbarians. WISCI, led by an unbeaten 43 runs from Viraj Bhammar, were on 71/2 in 16.3 overs when the heavens opened.

As per the playing conditions, which require a minimum of 15 overs to be completed in the second innings to be able to decide a winner, WISCI garnered full match points as they were ahead of the required run rate when play was called off.

In a Division 2 game last weekend, Ceylon CC defeated Challengers CC by 40 runs. Led by Dihan Silva'€™s 44 runs, and with a fine cameo by Riaz Ur Rahman (43 runs), Ceylon reached a total of 178 runs. Ranjan, Santhosh and Manic chipped in with two wickets each.

The Challengers, who started well but lost wickets in the second session, were all-out for 138 runs. Veteran Kesavadas produced a magical spell that saw him take four wickets conceding just two runs. Dihan Silva took 3/48 while Riaz Ur Rahman took 2/18. For the Challengers, Vimal Mohan scored 31 runs, while Sunil Samtani scored 23 runs.