The cricket played over the last few weeks has been of a very high standards in CCD PROGRESSIVE CUP 2019. CCD CHALLENGERS and FRIENDS CRICKET CLUB have a history of great encounters over the years. This two teams have competed fiercely but sportingly. When you play T-20 cricket, you don’t give other team an inch. You play it tough, all the way, grinding your opposition into submission. FCC captain Hiren won the toss and elected to bat first in this all important encounter. put on a display of good attacking stroke play. Sandesh was giving all bowlers a good old style pasting. His knock mesmerized the Challenger bowlers. 9 fours and 4 sixes of his bat were the treat to watch. Deepak’s 29 balls 37 runs laced with 6 boundary’s helped FCC put on a fantastic 112 run opening partnership. The atmosphere on the ground was fantastic. It was raining fours and sixes and FCC dugout was egging their players on to continue the good work. FCC were running away with the game. None of the bowlers could halt this opening pair from scoring freely. Dr Satya was introduced into the attack, and he delivered big time for his team. He accounted for both the set openers in quick succession. Deepak was brilliantly caught by Aakash and Satish took a nice catch to dismiss dangerous Sandesh off Satya’s bowling. Satya’s line and length was too good for FCC batsmen. His figures of 4 overs, 24 runs and 2 wickets doesn’t really depict how well Satya bowled. FCC were 2 down but had maintained very handsome run rate. But a cluster of wickets certainly helped Challenger’s pull back things a bit. Nimish after a brief start was brilliantly runout by Ankit. Hiren and Ashish were also dismissed quickly. Ashutosh and Ankit in their second spell certainly bowled well. Challengers were making a good come back into the match, But as some one has said ” A true batsman should in most of his strokes tell the truth about himself.” Well Amey who walked into bat at No. 4 certainly fits that bill. He played a sheet anchors role for FCC. The way he went about his innings is really praise worthy. Taking his one’s and two’s quickly, putting away the bad balls over boundary and holding one end up. A perfect innings under the circumstances, certainly a masterclass performance by Amey. FCC’s batting brilliance catapulted them to a score of mammoth 210 in 20 overs. Satya’s great bowling, Yogesh Mehendale’s 2 wickets for 27 runs and Ashutosh’s 1 wicket for 30 runs were only note worthy bowling performance for Challenger’s. All other Challenger bowlers struggled on the docile pitch.
Challengers were up against it, needing more than 10 runs per over to win this match. Aakash began brilliantly scoring 15 runs in 5 balls that he faced. He hit couple of superb fours and a towering six. Just as a we thought what a brilliant start, Akash was runout by Hiren. A jolt for Challengers who had a mountain to climb. Steve was steadying the innings from one end but continuous fall of wickets was not helping Challengers cause. Manish Mehta, Pratik and Satish Devkate all got decent starts but were unable to convert it into a good score. All 3 wickets fell in quick succession. FCC were smelling blood and whole team on the field were chatting up the atmosphere by egging their bowlers to get more Challenger batsmen out. Steve was guarding one end well, with a boundary here and there which kept the score board moving. But need of the hour was four’s and sixes. Parag Kelkar walked in with situation getting really tough for Challengers in the chase. He scored magical 38 of just 20 balls, glittering with 3 fours and 3 sixes. His innings pumped up the Challengers side. Whole Challengers dugout was leaping and screaming in joy, as finally a befitting reply to FCC ballers. Both Steve and Parag were on to a something special here. Runs were coming thick and fast. But yet it seemed like a bridge too far. It’s often said a good cricketer never loses his nerve. He just bats on! Well Parag is certainly a good batsman but lost his nerve and wicket to Ankit Sharma, who claimed 3 Challenger wickets. Ankit quashed any hopes of revival of Challengers chase. Satya kept hopes alive with few big blows but it seemed an impossible task as Challengers kept losing wickets. Steve played well for his 47 ball 61 runs, laced with 10 fours. The innings seemed slow for a T-20 game, but only if other Challenger batsmen had rallied around him, making contributions, you never know what would had been. Challengers lost by 30 odd runs. Manoj and Ankit bowled well for FCC. Those who witnessed the game would certainly label it as a BLOCKBUSTER!
Things certainly reaching business end in CCD PROGRESSIVE CUP 2019. Every team is trying hard to qualify for the play-offs. J3D having lost their previous 2 encounters in the competition took on CCD Avengers at picturesque Badlapur ground. Winning the toss, J3D opted to bat first. Openers Rohit and Aditya began briskly. Rohit hit 5 four’s in his 20 of 14 balls. Aditya was also scoring freely from other end. Barring opening maiden over by Chetan Dunakhe, in-consistent line and length by Avengers bowlers cost them dearly. Even though Chetan foxed Rohit brilliantly, trapping him plumb in front of the wicket, the runs flowed at ease. Opening batsmen made full use of the perfect batting track and conditions which laid a great platform for J3D middle order batsman. It was a great show of classic batsman-ship by Aditya, who scored a brisk 38 of 26 balls, which included 8 boundary’s. After losing Aditya and Mandeep in quick succession, local lad Bhuvan Patil and Kunal Jadhav took the reins in their own hands, building a terrific partnership for J3D. Bhuvan Patil’s 39 off 26 balls knock sparkled with 4 fours and 3 humungous sixes. Kunal Jadhav also played brilliantly for his 41 of 30 balls. 5 crisp boundary’s highlighted this gifted players knock. Kunal and Bhuvan’s partnership was the best highlight of J3D’s innings. Santosh Gole knocked over Bhuvan, but damage was done by then. Mohsin walked in and fired away 25 of 11 balls, studded with 4 four’s and a classic six over long on region, which was a treat to watch. Mohsin’s innings certainly put the icing on the cake for J3D, who finished with 186 runs from their stipulated 20 overs. In spite of Vasu Mhatre’s brilliant bowling spell of 3 wkts for 21 runs, Avengers could do very less as inconsistency in their bowling and brilliant show by Bhuvan and Kunal left them to chase down a stiff target of 186 runs.
Mangesh Surve and Abhijit Pednekar walked out to bat with great confidence. 22 yard strip was very much to their liking as ball was coming on to the bat quite nicely. Both batsmen struck a positive note immediately hitting boundary’s from both ends. Abhijit smashed 2 wonderful fours in his brief stay at the crease. He and Sandesh Patange who followed him were both foxed by Aditya. He castled both of them with well disguised slower ones. Sandeep walked in to bat and made his intention quite clear by hitting a six and a four off first four balls that he faced. Mangesh and Sandeep played quite aggressively. This was a rich phase for Avengers as score tickled on nicely and easily at the run rate that was required. Mangesh’s attitude was superb. He was ignorant about what was happening at the other end. He was on spree of hitting them cleanly and consistently. Mangesh’s 42 runs of 30 balls, included 6 fours and a magnificent six. His knock was a shot in the arm for Avenger team. Partnership between and Sandeep and Mangesh gave much needed impetus for the chase. Sandeep certainly commands a star status in this team. His score of 32 runs of just 15 balls, including 3 fours and 2 sixes kept Avengers on course towards a big chase.
After losing Sandeep, Shrikant and Mangesh kept the chase on. Shrikant collected one’s and twos and gave strike very well to the hitters that were batting on the other end. Mangesh’s dismissal was a jolt for Avengers, as he was a set batsman at the crease. Aniket’s quick fire 23 of 13 balls including 2 sixes and 1 solitary boundary, kept Avengers at the asking run rate required. Aniket’s dismissal set the cat amongst the pigeons. A few more big hits by Shrikant could’ve sealed the deal for Avengers, but he just couldn’t get going. Mounting run rate certainly put pressure on the batsman who followed. Quick wickets of Santosh Gole and Devendra Rane I think was the last nail in the coffin for Avengers, as they lost by 19 runs. A good match where Avengers fought brilliantly chasing a huge target, but in the end were outwitted by class bowling of Aditya Pawashe and Kunal Jadhav. A good victory for J3D.
Played at the SRT Gymkhana Kandivali between Amar CC and Mohan CC, Amar CC were put to bat first as the wicket was wet . Skipper Kawaldeep shared- “We did not let them score since I was doing a lot of bowling changes and did not allow the batsman to settle”
Their decision to bowl first seemed to have worked well as Amar CC were all out for 151 runs in 42.5 overs. Kavaldeep Singh was the pick of the bowlers coming up with 4/31 in 9.5 overs with 3 maidens.
Chasing 152, Mohan CC made the chase look quite easy with Lalkrishna Vishwakarma scoring a nifty 53* along with Moosa Syed scoring 41 off 43 balls as Mohan CC cruised to a 7 wkt win.
Rakesh Naik has been one consistent all-rounder for his team. From fifers to some brilliant hundreds in the last 2 years continues to impress in the Bombay Junior and Corporate tournaments too. In the Pulse T20 Tournament where he was leading the side in the absence of his skipper Kishor Waghela, he led from the front where he took a hat-trick in one match while bagged a ‘man of the match’ award in the other match out of the 3 games he played.
In the match between Bluestar CC and Worli CC, Worli CC managed to score 160/9 in 45 overs with Rakesh Naik taking 2/19, Prathamesh Golatkar who has taken some impressive fifers this season also took 2 wkts while Manas Mukadam was the pick of the bowlers with 3/27. Bluetstar chased down the score on the back of Aryan Patni (43), Tushar Tiwari (41) and Rakesh Naik remaining unbeaten on 49*
Played between New Era CC and Shantibha Seth Memorial CC at the MIG Ground, it was the all important finals of the prestigious Ghosh Tournament where in Shantibhai CC were put to bat first after losing the toss.
Shantibhai Seth Memorial CC was 243/all out in 76 overs with Kunal Vatari at no.7 scoring a very crucial 64* off 85 balls laced with 12 fours. From the bowlers-medium pacer Varun Rao was brilliant taking 4/63 in 19 overs. Off-Spinner Tejas Chalke took 2wkts while Ayush chipped in with a wicket too.
Chasing 244, New Era were off to a decent start with Abhinav Singh scoring 48 runs but the real game changer was Ayush Jethwa’s anchoring knock of 126*. Ayush coming at no.3 scored 126* off 144 balls which had 16 fours while Mayank Teotia who came at no.4 gave excellent support with a nifty 68 off 91 balls.
New Era CC won the match by 7 wkts and with this they become the winners of the prestigious Ghosh Tournament’18-19.
A 6wkt haul even in an ODI or a Test match is something difficult to achieve and is considered to be quite commendable but a 6 wkt haul in a T20 match where a bowler only gets 24 balls to ball and showcase his skills is an altogether different achievement.
Kotak Mahindra after being put to bat first at the Vengsarkar Academy, Mahul scored 138/6 in 20 overs with their opener Ajit Shinde (47) and no.3 batsman M Telge (58) being the top scorers. Defending a total of 139, the pressure is defiantly more on the bowlers as such targets are easily chased down in the T20 Format.
However, Ritin Ravindran from Kotak changed the script of the game with a magical bowling spell of 6/12 in 4 overs with one maiden. Ritin was simply unplayable at one point as he achieved one of the best T20 Spells of the tournament giving breakthroughs at an average of 1 wkt per 4 balls!
Kotak on the back of Ritin’s fabulous spell defended a low total successfully winning the match by 61 runs while Ritin being declared ‘man of the match.
IndiaFirst Life Insurance faced Hindustan Unilever Ltd. in their 3rd League Match of The Corporate T10 Cricket Shield 2018-19 on 05-Jan-2019.
IndiaFirst won the Toss and elected to Bat first at the Dadar Parsee Colony Gymkhana Cricket Ground, Matunga, Mumbai. Openers Babli Sharma (23 in 14 Balls; two 4s & one 6) & Pushkar Sharma got their Team to a quickfire start. No. 3 Kunal Bambardekar, promoted up the order, came in and started blasting away. One huge six off pacer Varun Sabharwal towards the Covers, who had castled Babli earlier, went out of the ground off the longest part of the field. He eventually remained unbeaten on 41 scored off just 21 Balls that comprised of 4 Fours & 3 Sixes. Pushkar at the other end was blazing away and carried his Bat through the Innings scoring 66* in just 27 Balls. The knock consisted of 3 Fours and 6 nicely times Sixes.
IndiaFirst ended up scoring a mammoth 137/1 in 10 Overs.
During the Chase, Opener Mario Fernandes (16 in 6 Balls) seemed in murderous mood after hitting 2 Sixes and a Four off the first 5 Balls that he faced from Pace Bowler Dharmendra Gupta. It was a sweet revenge when the Bowler had him, while going for the kill off the last ball of the over, brilliantly caught by Pushkar who covered huge ground running from the Deep Long Off fence. The other Opener Rajesh Jadhav seemed in no different mood either, having his Team at 51/1 after 3.5 Overs after carting Pushkar for 21 in the 4th Over. The Bowler had only conceded 2 in his first Over.
Pacer Sanket Teli then came up with a superb spell of 2-0-5-1 that effectively sealed the fate of the Match, a period where he completely neutralised Rajesh, beating him completely on several occasions. The nail in the coffin was when Skipper Ajish Abdul Rehman (1-0-1-1) eventually got Rajesh (43 in 25 Balls; 4 Sixes) Caught Behind with his sheer pace. IndiaFirst Won the match by 53 Runs. Pushkar was named Man of the Match for his brilliant Innings.
With this, IndiaFirst Life Insurance tops the Pool that consisted of strong Teams (the other two being Mahindra Insurance Brokers Ltd. & Owens Corning India Pvt Ltd.) with all 3 Wins. They would be playing the Semis once the other League Matches are over.
Keep watching this space for more updates.
Anjuman Islam School batting first posted a 1st innings total of 249 runs at the Elg Vengsarkar Ground where in Ayush Samant was the pick of the bowlers taking 7/61. Don Bosco in reply were all out for 135 runs thanks to a magical spell of spin bowling by Abdullah Sani.
Abdullah came up with envious bowling figures of 8/41 with his wily off-spin as he kept on giving breakthroughs without allowing any batsman to settle down at the crease. Anjuman were 18/4 in their 2nd innings at the end of the game’s play where Ayush Samant took 4/4 taking his tally of wickets to 11 in the match. Anjuman Islam School the match on 1st innings lead as they qualified for the crucial semi finals.
VK Krishna Menon Academy batting first notched up 231 runs in their 1st innings where in Kavya Gori bowled a stunning spell of 6/42 in the 1st innings being the pick of the bowlers. Al-Barkaat in reply declared their innings at 352/1 thanks to their run machine Tushar Singh who slammed his 3rd consecutive hundred. Tushar scored a match winning 202* in mere 170 balls laced with 36 fours as he set the ground on fire with his attacking display of batting.
Tushar also stitched a brilliant 336 run stand with Yasin Saudagar who scored an equally impressive 120*off 181 balls. Yasin was solid giving support from the other end as Tushar tore apart the bowlers.
Vk Krishna Menon in their 2nd innings collapsed badly for just 43 runs all out in 28.2 overs as Kavya Gori came up with one of the best spells of the tournament taking 7 wkts for mere 6 runs. Kavya took a total of 13 wkts in the match as Al-Barkaat won the match outright by an innings qualifying for the semi-finals.
Rizvi after batting first at the Matunga Gymkhana Ground scored a defendable 294 runs in their 1st innings while Bombay Scottish School in reply were bundled out for 88 runs in 36.3 overs. Left-arm Spinner Nishit came up with a brilliant spell running through Bombay Scottish’s line up taking 6/16 being the pick of the bowlers for his team. It was on the back of his match winning bowling performance Bombay Scottish received a follow on where they were again 89/9 in 62.2 overs before the end of the game’s play. Nishit took another 3/25 in 2nd innings taking his tally in the match to 9/41 as Rizvi won the match in a commanding manner on 1st innings lead.
With this win, Rizvi has qualified for the semi finals of the Giles Shield where in they will clash with Anjuman Islam at the Matunga Gymkhana Ground while Al Barkaat will take on IES VN Sule at Cross Maidan for two interesting semi-finals on January 17-18 2019.