Al-Barkat wins the Harris Shield Finals as Anurag (5wkts), Saumil  (111) & Harshvardhan (121) rise up for their school

 Into the all important finale at the Bombay Gymkhana in Fort, it was a battle between two impressive teams. One was Al-Barkat who are always considered a strong team and favorites while on the other hand was IES New English who have been simply outstanding in this tournament giving tough fights to major teams to reach the finals.

Al-Barkaat after being made to bat first were at one point 76/4 and the odds were simply high on IES winning the match by restricting them to a low total. However, Al-Barkat stayed true to its reputation of being a formidable unit as their middle order consisting of Saumil Malandkar & Harshvardhan Pandey stitched a match winning 195 run stand for the 5^th wicket. Saumil went on to score a brilliant 111 off 176 balls at no.5 laced with 15 fours while Harshvardhan scored a rock solid 121 (306balls) with 17 fours reminding everyone of Pujara’s grind in the test format as Al-Barkaat MMI English School from 76/4 declared their innings on 371/7 in 127.4 overs.

IES New English School were on the other hand in a better situation than Al-Barkaat in their first 30 overs however left-arm spinner Anurag Singh who is always a trump card for Al-Barkaat in pressure situations came up with 5/74 in a marathon spell of 51.4 overs. Himanshu Singh also bowled well taking 3 wkts as IES were all out for 217 runs with Manan Bhatt the only one to score a 50+ score smashing 63 runs.

Al-Barkaat MMI English School is the crowned champion of 125^th year of Harris Shield cricket tournament beating IES New English on 1^st Innings lead at BOMBAY GYMKHANA. Chief Guest Mr. Farooq Engineer who was a Former Test Cricketer and Wicketkeeper awarded the Al Barkaat MMI team with the prestigious title. The highlight of the day was Al Barkaat Spinners Himanshu Singh and Anurag Singh coming up with tight spells while the 195 run stand was simply crucial as well as epic for the Al-Barkaat School.