Mumbai, 28 November 2019 : Another solid batting performance from Agni Chopra, who cracked his second century (112 runs) of the match powered Chandrakant Pandit XI to an outright 5-wicket victory against Dilip Vengsarkar XI on the third day of their 3-day second round league match of the 24th Shalini Bhalekar Trophy (boys’ under-23) Selection Trials cricket tournament 2019, organized by Mangesh Bhalekar in association with the Dadar Parsi Zoroastrian Sports Club and played at the Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana II ground, Kandivali, on Thursday. The tournament is being conducted under the auspices of the Mumbai Cricket Association.
Vengsarkar XI who had taken an 18 run first innings lead made bold decision to declare the second innings closed at 283 for 8 wickets in 59.3 overs. They set Pandit XI a target of scoring 301 runs for a win. Pandit XI accepted the challenge and Chopra who had scored 107 runs in the first essay led the charge with a breezy knock and with Srujan Athawale scoring a quick 95 they cruised to victory with plenty to spare. Pandit XI scored 303 for 5 wickets in 38.5 overs and picked up 5 points for the win, while Vengsarkar XI are yet to open their account.
In the second match, between Lalchand Rajput XI and Jahangir Pithawala XI, finished in a draw. Rajput XI amassed a massive 605 for 4 wickets declared in the first innings. Pithawala who were dismissed for 261 in the first innings and forced to follow-on survived by making 213 for 8 wickets in the second innings when play was called off at the end of the third day and the match drawn. Rajput XI earned 3 points for gaining a first innings lead.
Brief scores : Lalchand Rajput XI – 1st innings : 605 for 4 wickets declared, in 142.5 overs (Harshit Janwadkar 69, Bhupen Lalwani 72, Adeeb Usmani 112, Siddharth Akre 90, Onkar Jadhav 101 not out, Pranav Kela 119 not out) Vs Jahangir Pithawala XI – 1st innings : (overnight 103 for 5 wickets, in 28 overs) 261 all out, in 61.3 overs (Karan Shah 34, Ritesh Patil 41, Shubham Pandey 34; Tanush Kotian 4 for 52) & 2nd innings: 213 for 8 wickets, in 38 overs (Minad Manjrekar 94*; Arjun Tendulkar 4 for 33). Played at Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana I ground, Kandivali. Results: Match drawn. Rajput XI 3 points (on basis of first innings lead); Pithawala XI 0 points.
Dilip Vengsarkar XI – 1st innings: 308 all out, in 55.2 overs & 2nd innings: (overnight 93 for 2 wickets, in 25 overs) 283 for 8 wickets declared, in 59.3 overs (Dhanday Rudra 51, Sarfaraz Khan 109, Umesh Raut 35) lost to Chandrakant Pandit XI – 1st innings : 290 all out, 73 overs & 2nd innings: 303 for 5 wickets, in 38.5 overs (Srujan Athawale 95, Agni Chopra 115, Sairaj Patil 38; Monu Chauhan 3 for 45) by 5 wickets. Played at Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana II ground, Kandivali. Pandit XI 5 points, Vengsarkar XI 0 points.
TVM batting first managed to post a total of 136/10 in 30 overs to which Spidersports Team scored 109/10 in 30 overs. TVM declared in 2nd innings at 122/8 with a total lead target of 150 runs for TVM to chase in 2nd innings.
Spider Sports in reply were all out for 104 runs as TVM team won the match by 45 runs. Utsav Koti (66) and Prateek Yadav (48) were declared man of the match while there were also promising performances with the ball wherein Shivam Yadav was declared best bowler for his spell of 6 wkts in the match. Prem Yadav with 5 wkts in the match was equally impressive as TVM won the match in a commanding manner.
BD Royals after being put to bat first at Somaiya Cricket Ground could only muster a total of 91/10 in 20 overs. BD Royals batsman did have a hard time as none of the players could cross 20 runs individually. The troublemaker for BD Royals and the wrecker in chief was all-rounder Jay Pandya who certainly came up with one of the best bowling spells so far in the tournament taking 4wkts for mere 4 runs in 4 overs alongwith 2 maidens. Bowling figures like this in a T20 game are anyday very commendable.
Chasing 92, JNS Jaguars sealed of the chase in 13 overs winning the match by 8 wkts. Opener Bhaktiyar Irani guided the innings with a matured knock of 34* in 39 balls while his opening partner Jay Pandya (20 off 22 balls) also gave good support as both the players ensured a commanding win for JNS Jaguars.
Rising Strikers after opting to bat first at Somaiya Cricket Ground were bundled out for 89 runs in 17.4 overs as most of the batters found it difficult to convert their starts. The bowlers did an excellent job with Mahesh Biyani being the pick of the lot taking 3/14 in 2.4 overs. Apart from him, all-rounder Chetan Kapoor and Vikas Singh bagged 2 wkts each.
Chasing 90, AVM Yoddhas gulped down the total in just 12.4 overs with 4 wickets in hands thanks to Chetan Kapoor’s crucial 38 off 28 balls at no.4. Nilay Shah also scored a quickfire 15* off 10 balls down the order as AVM Yoddhas won the match by 4 wkts.
Maskati CC after being put to bat first at Worli SC were in deep trouble at one stage with 4 wkts down for just 22 runs. However it was the “Ansari Jodi” which saved the day for Maskati Cricket Club. Azhar Ansari coming at no.5 went on to score a brilliant 102* off 119 balls (13 fours, 2 sixes) while Mohdnabijan Ansari coming at no.6 scored a solid 63* off 113 balls (4 fours) as both the Ansari duo stitched an unbeaten 168* run stand for the 5th wicket which is by far the highest 5th wicket partnership across all divisions in Kanga this year. Maskati CC from 22/4 declared their inning at 190/4 in 45 overs.
Rajasthan SC in reply were all out for 100 runs thanks to some tight bowling by the Maskati bowlers. Maskati CC used only 4 bowlers out of which Ganesh Alwe with 4/16 was the pick of the lot as Maskati CC went on to win the game on 1st innings lead.
Repro team after being put to bat first at Cross Maidan were all out for 116 runs on the back of some brilliant spin bowling by Atish Walinjkar who took 6/63 in 15 overs. Atish as always was spot on with the ball while 41yr old Rahul thakur continues to motivate as he also bowled an impressive spell of 7 overs which had 6 maidens while conceding mere 1 run.
Western Railway B in reply scored 256/10 in 68.2 overs wherein wicket-keeper batsman Harmesh Somaiya top scored with a elegant 116* off 202 balls. Harmesh who smashed 11 boundaries toiled hard between the wickets as he single handedly built his team’s innings to get a big 1st innings lead.
Repro in 2nd innings bettered their performance posting 214/10 with Atish Walinjkar and Jay Chauhan bagging 4 wkts each. For Western Railway it was a mere formality to chase down Repro’s target lead of 75 runs as they won the match by 9 wkts with Ashish Gharat (33*) and Harmesh Somaiya (32*) finishing off things for their team.
It was a power packed match with great individual performances as Atish continues to be amongst the wickets in all major MCA Tournaments while Harmesh who scored a solid 64 in Kanga last weekend seems to be getting back to his groove.
New Amrit CC after being put to bat first at Cross Maidan scored 161/10 in 44.1 overs with Rohan Tambe (30) and Maulik Nagwekar (34) chipping in with 30’s. From the bowlers, Amol Patil was the pick of the lot coming up with excellent bowling figures of 5/51 in 18.1 overs which had 6 maidens. Amol has been a revelation this tournament as he has been the top wicket-taker of D Division with 33 scalps in 11 innings at a very impressive average of 7.00.
MB Union CC on the other hand surpassed the 1st innings lead scoring 163/8 in 27.1 overs. They had the most of their batsman chipping in with contributions as they won the match on 1st innings lead. In the 2nd innings New Amrit CC were 13/4 with left arm spinner Amol Patil taking 3 wkts for mere 5 runs.
Into the all important finals of the tournament, two really promising teams Karnataka SA and MIG took on each other where in MIG batting first were all out for 100 runs in 1st innings. Ayush Mhatre and Saiprasad Mane chipped in with 30’s in an otherwise dismal batting performance. From the bowlers, Javed Sharif with 5/22 dazzled with the ball while Yaseen Saudagar and Kavya Giri bagged 2 wkts each.
Karnatak SA in reply notched up 244 in 75.5 overs gathering a big 1st innings lead in the match. Top order batsman Tushar Singh (48) and MD Asif (45) gave a good start while it was Prem Lingre at no.5 scoring a majestic 89 off 113 balls laced with 10 fours and 1 six. From MIG, Arya Gavas with 5/32 in 20 overs alongwith 8 maidens was simply impressive though he lacked support from the other end.
In the 2nd innings, MIG were 83/8 on the back of Yaseen Saudagar’s 4/26 before the match ended with Karnatak SA winning the match on 1st innings lead and winning the all important finals.
Super Strikers opting to bat first at Somaiya Cricket Ground posted a healthy total of 178/8 in 20 overs which is on any given day a good total to defend. Despite their openers falling out early, it was Viraj Gandhi at no.3 steadying the ship with a solid 38 ball 43. Apart from him, Raj Gogate down the order smashed a quickfire 35* off 22 balls ensuring their team is in a strong position.
Defending 179, Super Strikers restricted Mount Litera to mere 97 runs all out as most of their batters found it difficult to get going. Mittal Joshi with 4/16 in 4 overs including a maiden was the star bowler for Super Strikers as he kept on giving crucial breakthroughs at regular intervals. The rest of the bowlers also played a good supporting role as Super Strikers won the match by 81 runs.
OIS Tigers opting to bat first at Somaiya Cricket Ground posted a healthy total of 146/9 in 20 overs. Opener Ajit Virvani top scored with 31 runs off 35 balls while the rest of the batters gave starts but could not convert it into something substantial. From the bowlers, Sushil Sanghvi with 3/28 in 4 overs was the pick of the lot.
Chasing 147 is indeed not something impossible in modern day T20 but OIS Tigers ensured they bowled tight and kept the Camp Rangers batsman in check. Such was their tight bowling, CAMP Rangers could only muster 108/6 in 20 overs on the back of Mukund Dhondge’s 3/12 in 4 overs including a maiden. The rest of the bowlers also bowled really well as OIS Tigers went on to win the match by 38 runs.
