It was a match which certainly broke all time T20 records in the ongoing Championship T20 Tournament. Bombay Bulls Vashi took on Sarab XI at the Nilje Ground where in Sarab XI won the toss and elected to bat first.
Little did the Bombay Bulls knew on the storm which was about to hit them. After the fall of their opener Balaji, Vaibhav Mali and Arun Yadav stitched a record 289* run stand in mere 110 balls. Opener Vaibhav Mali smashed 154* off mere 55 balls where in he smashed 10 fours and 15 sixes. Vaibhav reached his hundred in mere 36 balls while his partner at no.3 Arun Yadav went on to score 159*in mere 51 balls which had 21 fours and 9 sixes. Arun reached his hundred in mere 33 balls probably making it one of the fastest T20 hundreds in the Mumbai Cricketing circuit. Both the batsman were in a completely different zone thrashing the bowlers in every corner of the ground.
Bombay Bulls in reply were all out for 93 runs where in Vaibhav Mali was the pick of the bowlers too taking 3/24 in 4 overs along with Shekhar taking 3 wkts in 2 overs. Ajay Mishra (3 wkts) and Arun Yadav (1 wkt) also came good with the ball as Sarab XI won by a record margin of 269 runs.
The benchmarks and records are just getting higher and higher in the 20 Format. Time and again you come across a match or a performance in T20 which sounds unbelievable. When T20 format started probably a decade ago, scoring even a 60 ball 100 or a team total of 200 was a big thing which has now become completely normal. Now the benchmarks are just getting higher and higher as we take you to a record breaking match.
Vengsarkar Academy after electing to bat first at Vengsarkar Academy, Mahul lit up the ground thanks to their opener Chintan. Left handed Chintan Seth went on to score his hundred in mere 36 balls & continued the onslaught to smash a massive 143 off just 55 balls laced with 27 fours and 3 sixes. Sunil Jadhav who came at no.5 gave a finishing touch scoring 94* off mere 31 balls which had 15 fours and 3 sixes with just one big hit away from the fastest ton in Mumbai Cricket. It was power hitting by these two coupled with 62 extras which took the team total to a record 351 runs in 20 overs.
Team One Architects were all out for 82 runs as Royal Falcons won by a mammoth margin of 269 runs where in Chintan was declared ‘man of the match’
Cipla after electing to bowl first at Matunga Gymkhana restricted WNS Global Services to 267/5 in 39 overs. Shivprakash Jaiswal with 110 runs and Asif Khan with a 45 ball 75* were the highest scorers for WNS steering their teams to a solid total.
Cipla on the other hand chased down the score with ease with their opener Daljit Thakkar developing the positive momentum on the back of his quickfire 64 off 46 balls. Bipin Waghela and Sachin Rao coming at no.3 and 4 finished of the chase in mere 31 overs. Bipin went on to score a match winning 138* facing mere 82 balls taking on the bowlers with domination while Sachin remained unbeaten on 42*as CIPLA won the match by 8 wkts.
Match-Canara Bank vs DY Patil B
Canara Bank after being made to bat first posted a very healthy total of 202//5 in 20 overs. Openers Bharat Chipli who scored a 27 ball 46 and MG Naveen with a solid 42 were the highest scorers for Canara Bank.
DY Patil B on the other hand were off to a solid start with their in-form opener Aman Khan smashing a 37 ball 50 (4 fours, 3 sixes). DY Patil though lacked this time batsman who could take the match till the very end which they are usually known for as they finished their run chase at 187/7 in 20 overs handing over a 15 run win to the Canara Bank.
Match-Central Railways vs DY Patil A
Central Railways after electing to bat first had their only hopes resting on their opener Pravin Deshetti who scored a fabulous 83 off 57 balls laced with 12 fours and 3 sixes. Pravin who scored a 30 ball 64 in his previous game this time played intelligently taking his team towards a respectable total of 135/8 in 20 overs.
It was a mere formality for the powerful DY Patil A as they chased down the score in mere 15.3 overs with 8 wkts to spare. Mandeep Singh who came at no.3 scored a fluent 40 ball 62*(5 fours, 3 sixes) while Rinku Singh came good with a quick cameo of 30* (18 balls) finishing off things for DY Patil in style.
Tarapur Vidyamandir electing to bat first at Sainath CC Virar notched up a very big total of 379/2 in 45 overs. Despite two quick wickets, opener Prateek Yadav and no.4 batsman Atharva Raut stitched a 331 run stand between themselves in mere 212 deliveries. Prateek Yadav went on to score 188* off 127 balls dealing mostly in boundaries hitting 32 fours & a six while Atharva scored an equally dominating 147* off 123 balls which had 21 fours & 5 sixes.
Holy Family Convent High School in reply were all out for 120 runs thanks to some really tight bowling by the TVM bowlers as they won the match by 259 runs.
Match 1-Mumbai Customs vs Air India
In the match between Air India and Mumbai Customs where Air India opted to bat first were in deep trouble at one point with 2 down for 12 runs. However, Yuvraj Singh who came at no.4 turned the tides for Air India hitting an effervescent 57 ball 80. Some of the sixes which he smashed reminded us of his peak days and it’s certainly a signal from Yuvi that there is more to come from his bat.
Mumbai Customs Chasing 170 ensured they win it comfortably thanks to the in-form Vikrant Auti and solid Swapnil Pradhan’s 150 run stand. Vikrant smashed 86* off 57 balls (7 fours, 4 sixes) while Swapnil played the anchors role with a 57 ball 67* as they won the match by 9 wkts.
Match 2-ONGC vs Indian Oil
ONGC after electing to bat first at DY Patil University were off to a flying start thanks to a 47 ball 107 run stand between their openers Sarthan Ranjan & Hiten Dalal. Sarthan scored a blazing 27 ball 57 while Hiten tore apart the bowling attack with some unbelievable hitting smashing 113 off mere 44 balls. Hiten smashed 12 sixes not sparing any bowler or corner of the ground. Nitish Rana’s 21 ball 53 & Mahipal’s 45*further accelerated the team total to a massive 280/4 in 20 overs.
Indian Oil fought hard in reply with skipper Aditya Tare (51) and Ruck Bhui (41) scoring at good pace but they eventually managed to reach only 218/8 in 20 overs.
ONGC won the match by 62 runs while it was Hiten and Nitish doing the fireworks!
Match 3-RBI vs CAG
RBI apart from their opener Sumit’s 49 lacked good starts as they reached an average total of 151/9 in 20 overs. Fast Bowler Sayan Ghosh was on fire taking 5/31 in 4 overs taking wickets at crucial junctures.
CAG in reply chased down the score with ease thanks to the quick 40’s by their openers Abhishek Raman (48) * & Abhinav Bali (42) as they won the match by 7 wkts.
Match 4- Canara Bank vs Jain Irrigation
Canara Bank after being made to bat first scored a healthy total of 202/10 in 20 overs with opener Bharat Chipli being the highest scorer smashing a brutal 49 ball 90 which had 7 sixes and 7 fours to his name.
Jain Irrigation in reply were bundled out for 128/10 thanks to a magical spell by leg break bowler Praveen Dubey who came up with match winning bowling figures of 5/23 to help his team win the match by 74 runs.
In a lone match of Zooter International School Dad’s Tournament that was played on January 23, BD Royals got the better of OIS Tigers with a 36-run win. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, BD Royals posted a paltry 138-7 in 20 overs. Opening bat Kumar Adnani top scored with 39, and found able allies in Niraj Dalal (24), Haresh Adnani (24), and Rishabh Shah (25 not out). With the ball, Nitesh Bhasin of OIS Tigers struck with 3-19 in his four overs.
Chasing a parsimonious score of 139, OIS Tigers was done and dusted for 102 in 16.2 overs losing the match by 36 runs. Abhishek Soni top scored with 16 but a cumulative batting failure resulted in the defeat. BD Royals’ Rajiv Hingoo was the star performer with you the ball picking up 4-15 in his four. Hingoo bowled in right line and length consistently and yielded rich dividends. His match winning bowling performance deservingly gained him the Man of the Match award.
Click here for BD Royals vs OIS Tigers Match Scorecard ….
It was the all-important finals of the tournament, two of the best teams at the school level took on each other with Rizvi winning the toss and electing to bat first at the iconic Wankhede Stadium which is nothing but a dream come true for the young boys.
Rizvi School suffered a batting collapse with the entire team bundling out for 111 runs. Yaseen Saudagar’s fiery opening spell where he bowled some of the “balls of the season” and Javed Sharif’s match winning spell of 5/45 in 15 overs proved to be too heavy for the Rizviites. Al-Barkaat received an equal tough fight from the bowlers getting all out for 123 runs where in all-rounder Yaseen displayed a fighting spirit to score 57*off 168 balls helping his team cross the three figure mark.
Rizvi in their 2nd innings with the help of Owais Khan’s 90* declared their innings at 217/7 in 66 overs. Al-Barkaat in their 2nd innings were 172/7 and batted for 94 overs till the end of the game’s play where they won the match on 1st innings lead.
It was a fantastic performance from the young boys where we got to see some fantastic bowling spells, some fighting knocks and most importantly the best of the spirits which a cricket game always demands. Al-Barkaat School were awarded the championship shield by Mr Dilip Vengsarkar, Former India Test player.
Best Batsman-Tushar Singh (601 runs with highest score of 202* in 5 matches)
Best Bowler-Nishit Bhalla (22 wkts in 5 matches with best bowling figures of 6/16)
Best All-Rounder-Aditya Giri (205 runs and 15 wkts)
Zooter International School Dad’s Tournament’s second match of the super Sunday was played between Utpal Warrior and Fazlani United at Air India Sports Club, Mumbai. Batting first, Utpal Warrior posted a mammoth 192-5 in 20 overs, courtesy 108 run partnership between Asgar Khan (63 off 35) and Vishal Mervana (41 not out off 18 balls) for the fifth wicket. Khan was mindblowing with the bat as he smacked the Fazlani United bowlers all around the park. Asgar’s phenomenal knock was laced with four boundaries and five sixes. For Fazlani United it was Shams Lakhani who wrecked havoc with 3-16 in his four overs.
Chasing a daunting target of 193, Fazlani United did not get off to the best of starts as the team lost its first three wickets in six overs. Coming in at no. 8, Dhrumal top scored with 32 buy his effort went in vain as he received no support from his teammates. Earlier with the bat and now with the ball, Vishal Mervana and Asgar Khan bowled well in tandem scalping two wickets each. Fazlani United’s innings was closed at 153-8 in 20 overs, thus falling short of 39 runs.
Asgar Khan was presented with the Man of the Match for his jaw dropping blitzkrieg with the bat.
Click here for Utpal Warrior VS Fazlani United Match Scorecard ….
Zooter International School Dad’s Tournament witnessed a high scoring game on January 20 when BD Smashers and Mount Litera locked horns against each other at Air India Sports Club, Mumbai. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, BD Smashers smashed 221-9 in 20 overs. The opening pair of Ambish Shah (41) and Varun Godha (55) stitched a blistering partnership of 103 in 8.1 overs. Godha scored a delightful half century and set the momentum of the innings. His timing was exquisite and shot selection stellar. Middle order batsman Karan Rastogi put up a scintillating cameo as he hit 41 off 25. For Mount Litera, it was Mayur Luthria with the ball who made some impact striking with 4-35 in four overs.
In reply, Mount Litera got off to a steady start thanks to Alok Shah (58). However the other batsmen failed to capitalise on the start and Mount Litera’s innings was folded at 167-6 in 20 overs, falling short of 54 runs. BD Smashers put up a disciplined bowling effort with Saurabh Shah picking up 2-25 in his three and Vijay Gala, Suchit Shah, and Mohit Chaturvedi accounting for one dismissal each.
Varun Godha of BD Smashers was adjudged as the Man of the Match for his stupendous knock of 55 that came of just 38 deliveries and included nine boundaries.
Click here for Mount Litera VS BD Smashers Match Scorecard ….