Parkophene Cricketers opting to bat first at Cross Maidan were off to a shaky start but they were able to reach a competitive total of 209/9 in 39 overs dec in their 1st innings. Adeeb Usmani with 40 runs at no.3 became the highest run scorer in A Div kanga League this year while left handed all-rounder Sagar Mishra once again in chipped in with a crucial half century at the middle order helping his team reach a strong position.
Payyade SC in reply were off to a solid start with openers putting on 80 runs in the first 16 overs. Left Handed opener Vikrant Auti anchored the chase with a composed 77 off 78 balls while it was Prayag Bhati at no.3 who carried on the positive momentum scoring 62 off mere 47 balls (6 fours, 2 sixes) coming at no.3.
Prayag (214 runs in 3 innings) has been amongst the top scorers in the A Div while he has been scoring consistently in various tournaments itching to make a strong statement for a comeback in the Ranji circuit. It was on the back of solid half centuries by these two Payyade SC declared their 1st innings at 215/5 dec in 36 overs winning the match on 1st innings lead. Payyade are also the A div runners up for Kanga League 2019.
Parkophene Skipper Prasad Pawar who bravely elected to bat first with an aim to break the jynx that the teams who chose to bat first in Kanga often find it difficult to win. However, the track record & history of Kanga which shows that only 5% of teams have won after opting to bat first. The history of Kanga overpowered Prasad’s move as Parkophene lost the match on 1st innings.
Sportsmen CC Vasai after being put to bat first at Shivaji Park Dadar could muster a total of 145/10 in 42.3 overs. Opener Suyog Vaity top scored with 48 runs while the rest of the batsman failed to convert their starts. From the bowlers, it was Narayan Sawant being the pick of the lot coming up with 4/41.
However, Sportsmen CC Vasai managed to defend their modest total restricting Gamdevi Cricketers to just 89 all out in 27.5 overs. Thanks to a match winning spell by Yoganand Ghatge who bamboozled the batsman with his effective left arm spin. Yoganand returned home with exceptional bowling figures of 6/22 in 9.5 overs while fast bowler Kaiwalya Patil also gave good support chipping in with 4/33 in 11 overs with 3 maidens helping Sportsmen CC Vasai win the match on 1st innings lead.
Muslim United after being put to bat first at Cross Maidan were all out for 129/10 in 30.3 overs. Khalidzaman Ahmed opening the innings was the top scorer with 64 runs while only 1 batsman apart from him managed to score in double digits. The architect of Muslim United Middle and Lower Order Collapse was right arm medium pacer Nehal Shaikh who achieved the best bowling figures of A Division Kanga League’19. Nehal ran through their batting line up returning with bowling figures of 8/35 in 10.3 overs which proved to be ghastly for the opposition.
Trailing/Chasing 130 seemed to be a cakewalk for Regal CC as they lost only 4 wkts before they declared their innings at 131/4 in 31.3 overs winning the match on 1st innings lead. Aakash Savla registered his consecutive half century displaying his ominous touch en-route a classy 59* off 93 balls at no.4.
Khar Gymkhana taking on Young Mohmeddan CC on their ground was always going to be one interesting competition and the bowlers in the match ensured that the match remained a nail biter.
Khar Gymkhana after being put to bat first were bundled out for 152 runs thanks to a searing spell of fast bowling by Left arm quickster Rahil Shaikh. Rahil came up with stunning bowling figures of 7/60 in 17.1 overs. Rahil was spot on with the ball and most of the players could makeout how this bowler went on to play Irani Trophy for Mumbai as well as featuring in a game for Mumbai Indians in IPL as it was quality fast bowling on display.
However, Young Mohmeddan CC could not replicate their good bowling performance into batting as they were all out for 101 runs in 19.4 overs. Off Spinner Aatif Shaikh who has bagged a fifer even before this game and has been amongst the wickets this season continued to impress taking 5/18 in 5.4 overs in what turned out to be a match winning bowling spell as Khar Gymkhana won the match on 1st innings lead.
Goregaon Sports Club after being put to bat first on Islam Gymkhana’s homeground dominated the opposition with quite some confidence. Goregaon SC notched up a very impressive total of 270/5 dec in mere 39.1 overs thrashing Islam Gymkhana bowlers on their own turf. Despite a shaky start by the openers, it was their no.3 batsman Krunal Nar taking on the bowlers with his aggressive brand of batting. Krunal went on to score a stylish stroke laden 118 runs in mere 94 balls which included 13 fours and 5 sixes. The middle order also chipped in well with Pushkaraj Jadhav (48 off 52 balls) & Vishant More (30* off 20) pushing the team towards a strong position.
Islam Gymkhana in reply were bundled out for 158 runs thanks to a stunning spell of spin bowling by Virendra Maurya. Only few bowlers have managed to bag 8wkt hauls in Kanga this year and Virendra joins that elite list as he came up with a match winning spell of 8/62 in 13.3 overs not allowing any batsman to settle down.
Goregaon SC won the match on 1st innings lead while it was Krunal and Virendra coming up with one side performances.
HDFC Corporate team conducted their trials for the upcoming season on 12th October at the Sydenham Pitch at Oval Maidan. As many as 32 players arrived for the trials hoping to play for the HDFC team this season.
The trials were conducted by the Captain of the team Nitin Mistry along with his core team of 8 players. A total of 20 players were selected out of the 32 that arrived for the selection. HDFC were particularly looking for a spinner from this selection trails and the captain Nitin Mistry said that they have found a couple of good options in that department.
The season for HDFC corporate team starts this month with the Dreamz Tournament. They were the runner ups in the tournament last season as they were beaten in the final by J.P Morgan. HDFC will be hoping to go one step further this season and win the title.
The practice will be conducted every Saturday at the Sydenham Pitch at Oval Maidan. The first round of Dreamz Tournament are scheduled to be played in the last week of October.
Into the final match of the season for the B Division Group, Parsee Gymkhana after being put to bat first were restricted to 141/all out in 68.5 overs. Nikhil Patil with 40 runs was the highest scorer while the rest of the batters found it difficult to get going. From the bowlers, it was a mix of two generations piercing through the Parsee Gymkhana’s batting line up as leg break bowler Pravin Tambe and left arm spinner Karsh Kothari took 9wkts between themselves. 23yr old Karsh took 4/37 in 25 overs while 47yr old Pravin Tambe took 5/42 in 22.5 overs. Both the bowlers though with varying styles and coming from different schools of cricket were effective in their own ways as DY Patil were in a strong position.
Chasing 145, DY Patil wanted to win in style and openers Kaustub Pawar and Subbu ensured that they indeed seal a win in a dominating fashion on their homeground. KP (43 off 51) and Subramanian Doriaswamy (64 off 33) gave a 105 run 1st wicket stand in mere 12.5 overs. Subramanian especially proved to be in a different mood altogether hitting 5 fours and 5 sixes at a strike rate of 200.00 leading from the front as a captain of the team.
DY Patil eventually declared their team at 144/6 in 20 overs winning the match on 1st innings lead. With this win they win the B Division Kanga League earning the champions tag while they also get promoted to the A Division of the iconic tournament.
Top 3 Run Getters-
- Aakarshit Gomel-326 runs in 6 innings @54.33 & strike rate of 79.13
- Krunal Nar-257 runs in 7 innings @42.83, Strike rate of 102.80
- Mohhamad Ishaque Shaikh-229 runs in 6 innings @45.80, Strike rate of 91.97
Top 3 wicket takers-
- Pravin Tambe-26wkts in 8 innings @9.00 and econ of 2.47
- Madhusudan Acharya-21wkts in 7 innings @21.00 @ econ of 3.46
- Karsh Kothari-19wkts in 8 innings@12.00 @ econ of 2.48
- Shamit Shetty-19 wkts in 8 innings
Into a virtual finale, PJ Hindu Gymkhana locked horns with Sind Sports Club on their home ground on what was basically a low scoring thriller where bowlers played a crucial role for both the teams.
The promising line up of PJ Hindu Gymkhana were all out for 107 runs in their final match of the Kanga season with a brutal top and lower order collapse. Right arm medium pacer Nitish Salekar bowled one of the most important spells of his kanga career running through the PJ Hindu batsman on their own turf with a sensational spell of 6/33 in 10 overs (3 maidens).
However, it’s not easy to defeat PJ Hindu Gymkhana no matter at how much score you restrict them. PJ Hindu Gymkhana bowlers fought back restricting Sind SC to mere 90 runs all out in 20 overs. Leading from the pack, fast bowler Mohit Avasthi who is also now the table topper of the A Div claimed 5 wkts to dismantle Sind SC’s hopes of winning the match. Mohit came up with a match winning spell of 5/40 in 10 overs while he was nicely supported by Salil Agharkar (3/33) and Sachin Katkar (2/13) as PJ Hindu Gymkhana won a low scoring thriller.
With this win, PJ Hindu Gymkhana also win the A div kanga League with 15 points in 7 games surpassing Payyade’s 13 points. The PJ Hindu Gymkhana Committee which works behind the scenes also played a crucial role in the journey of becoming one of the top cricket clubs of Mumbai.
Champions-PJ Hindu Gymkhana
Runners Up-Payyade Sports Club
Top 3 Run Scorers-
- Adeeb Usmani (Parkophene Cricketers)-277 runs in 5 matches @92.33, Sr-94.86
- Prayag Bhati (Payyade SC)-214 runs in 3 innings @107.00 & strike rate of 127.924
- Sachin Wagh (PJ Hindu Gymkhana)-201 runs in 7 matches@33.50 and strike rate of 90.95
Top 3 wicket takers-
- Mohit Awasthi (PJ Hindu Gymkhana)-20wkts in 8 innings @ 11.00 & econ of 3.34
- Vinayak Bhoir (Karnatak Sporting Association)-19 wkts in 8 innings@7.00 & econ of 2.51
- Sagar Mishra (Parkophene Cricketers)- 19 wkts in 7 innings @10.00
Anonymous Knights, a team from Mumbai, went on their first ever tour , which was a tour to Udaipur. The team, led by Sanjeev Suleria ,is a group of friends, who are all 30 years old and above, coming together and pursuing their passion for cricket .
The Anonymous Knights played 3 T20 matches on the Udaipur tour. They won the first two games comfortably. They lost the third game against the Doctors of Udaipur. These matches were played at the Pacific Sports complex in Udaipur. The tour was completely arranged and managed by Zooter.
The main objective of Zooter is to provide a top class cricket experience to all Amateur players who have moved on in life to pursue their professional and corporate goals but share a common passion for playing the game. Zooter has already organised 25+ tours and are set for many more !
After a successful first tour of Jaipur , the Anonymous Knights thoroughly enjoyed the tour and are looking forward for more tours.
After taking a brilliant hat-trick in his previous outing, the young spinner has not looked back giving solid performances at the local level.
After putting Goregaon SC to bat first at the Parsee Gymkhana, it was a good start with openers putting on 75 runs with Rohit Rudra scoring a blazing 52 off 44 balls. However, despite a brilliant start, they could not capitalize as the team was all out for 149 runs in 31.2 overs. The architect of Goregaon SC’s collapse was leg-break bowler Abhimanyu Vasishtha coming up with excellent bowling figures of 6/26 in 7.2 overs. Abhimanyu broke partnerships while he was supported well by Aditya Dhumal who also chipped in with 3 wickets.
Parsee Gymkhana won the match on 1st innings thanks to a brilliant 96* run stand for the 4th wicket between Aditya Dhumal and Nikhil Patil. Nikhil scored a solid 35* off 54 balls while Aditya Dhumal took on the bowlers enroute his 54* in 53 balls (6 fours, 1 six).