BEST snatch narrow win to lift Oriental Insurance Shield title

Mumbai: Opening batsman Mandar Patil’s played a responsible  knock scoring 40 valuable runs which helped BEST Arts & Sports Club emerge champions winning the Plate Division title in the 10^th Oriental Insurance Shield T20 Inter-Office Cricket Tournament, organised by Oriental Insurance Corporation under the aegis of MCA (Mumbai Cricket Association) and played at the Mumbai Police Gymkhana ground, Marine Drive.

BEST held their nerves at the death and managed to defeat Larsen & Toubro by a 5-wicket margin in a well-contested and tense final.

Preferring to field first, BEST bowlers were a disciplined lot and kept the Larsen & Toubro batters under control and restricted them to 135 runs for 7 wickets from their 20 overs. All-rounder Shiva Yadav was the leading run-scorer with 34 runs from 29 balls, Jagdish Sorkhade scored a 27-ball 31 runs and Nishit Shriyan made a quick 27 runs, while Sukesh Gadekar claimed 2 wickets for 22 runs.

In reply, the BEST innings was boosted by opening batsman Patil’s patient batting effort of 40 runs from 45 balls, which was the perfect foundation for their win. BEST lost a couple wickets midway through their innings, but middle-order bat Ketan Dhatankar held the innings together by scoring an unbeaten 27 runs to steer them to victory. Jatin Sethi 2 for 25 was the lone successful Larsen & Toubro bowler.

Chief Guests Sanjay Naik, Secretary, Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), Shahalam Shaikh, Joint Secretary, MCA, Deepak Jadhav, Mumbai Ranji Trophy player, along with Oriental Insurance Company’s DGM Rekha Mohanty, DGM Chaitan Raout, and DGM Shailey Dheer, and Jitendra Ingle, Joint Secretary, Oriental Insurance Sports Club, and other dignitaries presided over the Prize Distribution function.

Brief scores: Larsen & Toubro SC 135 for 7 wickets, 20 overs (Shiva Yadav 34, Jagdish Sorkhade 31 not out, Nishit Shriyan 27; Sukesh Gadekar 2/22) lost to BEST A & SC 137 for 5 wickets, 19.2 overs (Mandar Patil 40, Ketan Dhatankar 27 not out; Jatin Sethi 2/25). Result: BEST A&SC won by 5 wickets.