Into the final leg of the tournament, the last week must be an emotional match for many cricketers who enjoy playing Kanga League. This Sunday was unfortunately the last day for A and B Div teams and Vaidik Murkar ended the tournament on a stylish note hitting a classy ton.
Played between Sind SC and Shivaji Park Gymkhana on their home turf in Dadar, Shivaji Park boys elected to bat first which is quite a rare occurrence in Kanga league. Their decision to bat first went well as they notched up 199/5dec in 43overs. Opening the innings Vaidik Murkar smashed a brilliant 102* off 115balls. Vaidik batted till the very end smashing 6fours and 3sixes while equally toiling hard between the wicket which resulted in a very classy ton.
Sind SC in reply escaped a narrow defeat as they were 9down for 95runs before the end of the game’s play resulting in a draw.
It’s a rare sight to see both father and son playing active professional cricket in the same tournament and it’s a furthermore rare sight to see father and son top their divisions with the bat and ball. Mumbai Cricket just got to witness it this year as Safaraz and Naushad Khan won the hearts of many with their individual performances.
In the last match of A Division-Dadar Union and Payyade SC locked horns with each other where in Dadar Union batting first were reduced to mere 128runs all out in 38.3overs. Quickster Badrey Alam left behind a mark in the last match of the tournament with an impressive bowling spell of 7/54 in 14overs. The tearaway fast bowler bowled at great line and length troubling the batsman and not allowing them to settle down. Payyade SC who were 2wkts down for 0 runs got a stable comeback as Sarfaraz Khan who has been in top form with the bat played one more rescuing innings of 83runs at no.4 facing 78deliveries laced with 10fours and 2sixes. Sarfaraz also stitched 119run stand with the experienced Parag Khanapurkar who scored a brilliant 78* off 71balls as Payyade declared their innings on 172/4 winning the match on 1st innings lead.
Naushad Khan who also played his last match of the tournament in B Division ended the game by taking 4wkts taking his tally to 18wkts in the Tournament. Naushad Khan at such a senior age gave his best even after going through a knee injury in his last match.
While Sarfaraz has proved a strong point for making a comeback into the Mumbai team, father Naushad Khan on the other hand proved that age is just a number.
Both Father and Son this season in Kanga League’18
Sarfaraz Khan (RHB)- Naushad Khan(Spinner)
Matches-4 Matches-5
50’s-2 Wkts-19
100’s-1 Average-10
Average-71.00 Econ-3.46
Strike Rate-94.00 Best Bowling-6/33
Best-109 5wkt hauls-2
30th September 2018- the final decider match between Parel SC and PJ Hindu Gymkhana, two teams who have given some amazing performances this season. It was the match which would decide who will lift the B Division title while also a win will make the winner promote to the top tier of the Kanga League.
Played at the PJ Hindu Gymkhana, Parel SC after being made to bat first were cruising at one point on 82/2 before left arm spinner Salil Agharkar delivered at the right time in a high pressure match. Salil went on to take 6/38 cleaning up the middle order while taking crucial wickets restricting Parel SC from 82/2 to 132all out in 32.4overs. It was a big twist to the game as Salil changed the game with his wily spin.
What’s more trailing 133 was a cakewalk for PJ Hindu Gymkhana’s in form batting line up with Sachin Katkar giving a great start opening the innings with 56runs. Prathamesh Pawar (76 off 107b) and Sachin Wagh (56* off 55b) smashed crucial half centuries steering the team to 233/3dec in 46 overs before the end of the game’s play where PJ Hindu Gymkhana Gymkhana won the finals on 1st innings lead.
With this win, PJ Hindu Gymkhana not only become the winners of B Division but also gets promoted to the A Div of Kanga league.
Some important pointers-
PJ Hindu Gymkhana Cricket secretary- Maulik Merchant, Sub-committee members Ashok Kadam and Bakul Mistry also played a important role in the team’s progress behind the scenes.
Skipper Anup Revandkar has led from the front with good leadership.
Sachin Wagh with 170runs at an average of 85.00 in 3matches along with a fifer and 7wkts overall has been PJ Hindu Gymkhana’s best all-rounder in top form.
Sachin Katkar with 155runs in 5innings has been a crucial contributor
Salil Agharkar with 9wkts in the Tournament takes him into the Top 10 Bowlers of B Div this season at no.7.
DSO Tournament since many years has been a wonderful platform for youngsters and this year has also witnessed a great start to the tournament. Let’s take a look at some of the bright performances from the last weekend.
In the match between DSO Don Bosco and Raj Rani Malhotra Vidyalaya, Don Bosco School Borivili batting notched up 134/7 in 15overs and restricted opposite team for the lowest total for 14runs all out, Don Bosco team did a fantastic job of restricting the opposition as they bundled out Raj Rani School for a record lowest 6runs. Varun Pednekar(2wkts), Meetul Waghela(3wkts) and Yash(2wkts) bagged 7wkts together in their 6overs combined while only giving away 4runs. Don Bosco defended a low scoring match as their bowlers did a fantastic job.
In the match between Janki Devi Public School and Vibgyor School, Janki Devi team after being made to bat first managed to score 114/2 in 15overs. Lave Shivani scored a brilliant 45 laced with 6fours while Krrish Upadhyay also chipped in with 35runs. Vibgyor High School in return were bundled out for mere 25runs as Lave Shivani impressed with the ball too taking 3/4 in 3overs. The rest of the bowlers also did a brilliant job as Janki Devi team won the match in a commanding manner.
There are 3 types of batsman in cricket-One who acclimatizes, spends time and stitches the entire innings like Dravid and Laxman, then there are batsman who chip in with 30’s and 40’s while also perform other tasks like bowling or keeping maybe like DK and then comes the last breed of cricketers who make a name for themselves with their attacking and entertaining display of batting like Sehwag. Manan Bhatt recently just showcased how lethal he can be with the bat once he gets going in the match between IES New English School and Lakshdham High School.
IES team after winning the toss notched up a massive target of 210/1 in 15overs and that was all possible because of their swashbuckling opener Manan Bhatt. The little master simply took on the bowlers with pure dominance reaching his ton in mere 47balls making it the fastest ton not only in DSO but also one of the fastest overall in Mumbai Local cricket for 2018. Manan went on to score an unbeaten 152* off just 62balls laced with 24fours and 5sixes as most of the bowlers went for a thrashing. What’s more he scored his last 49runs in mere 15balls accelerating furthermore in the last 5overs.
In reply, Lakshdham High School managed to score only 86/7 in 15 overs as IES were handed over a big win by a margin of 124runs. It was a match which captured everyone’s attention as Manan kept the bowler on toes.
Imagine a test match full of performances- A fighting hundred by a wicket keeper batsman in the 4th innings of a match, fifers by not one but 3bowlers and a team making a comeback in their 2nd innings after being all out for just 95runs in the 1st innings, yes that was the match which actually happened between U16 Dilip Vengsarkar XI and U16 Sunil Gavaskar XI at the SRT Ground in Kandivali.
Dilip Vengsarkar XI who had a strong batting line up opted to bat first. However they were in for a shock when the whole batting line up collapsed for mere 95runs all out with skipper Ayush top scoring with 46. Left arm spinner Yash Kripal who has had a great 2018 continued to impress with the ball taking 5/43 in 16overs. Parikshit Dhanak with 4/21 in 9overs was equally impressive as both Yash and Parikshit cleaned up the opposition’s batting line up with ease. Sunil Gavaskar XI in reply had a good start with their top order batsman chipping in while skipper Musheer Khan at no.4 top scoring with 70runs. Left arm spinner Shubham Kharat bowled an impressive spell as he bagged 6/51 in 21overs troubling the batsman with his wily spin.
Vengsarkar boys gave a stunning comeback in the 2nd innings scoring 319/9dec in 127.3 overs. Sai Chavan who is a very promising batsman scored a brilliant 4th innings hundred scoring a brilliant 103*at no.6. Scoring a 4th innings hundred is very difficult as the wicket gets more difficult to bat on but Sai made it look very pleasing to the eyes smashing some brilliant shots en route his hundred. Harshad Rane(61) and Ayush Jethwa(59) also chipped in with half centuries. Yash and Parikshit both bagged 3wkts each taking 15wkts together for their team. Gavaskar XI were 42 for no loss before the end of the game’s play where they won the match on 1st innings lead.
It was an exciting match and had there been a day more, it could have become furthermore interesting while young players like Sai, Yash, Praikshit and Shubham impressed one and all with their individual performances.
When matches become neck to neck, they are simply interesting to watch and the recently concluded Payyade selection tournament has been a no exception with the opening matches of the tournament witnessing some mind blowing performances.
Played between U16 Rohit Sharma XI and SRT XI. U16 Rohit Sharma XI after being made to bat first could have been collapsed for under 100runs had it not been their opener Vedant Gadia slogging it out at the crease. Opening the innings, Vedant remained the last man standing scoring 100* off 247balls laced with 14fours in an innings when only 2other batsman managed to score runs in two digits. Left arm spinner Aman Manihar was the pick of the bowlers taking 4/30 in 21overs in what turned out to be an impressive spell. Sachin Tendulkar XI on the other hand batted really well notching up 282/9 dec in 76overs. Suryansh who had scored back to back tons in the recently concluded Subba Rao Trophy continued to impress the selectors with a yet another swashbuckling hundred at the middle order hammering 112runs off mere 79balls smashing 12fours and 7sixes.
Rohit Sharma XI in their 2nd innings batted well notching up 249runs in 100overs with opener Vedant again top scoring with a fluent 64. Aman Manihar was the pick of the bowler in the 2nd innings too baggig 5/63 taking his tally of wickets to 9 in the match. SRT XI were 61/2 before the end of the game’s play where they won the match on 1st innings lead.
DSO Tournament has always been a breeding ground for youngsters and this year has been no exception with young players giving their best to perform. In the match between Lilavatibai Podar High School and Thakur Public School,Kandivali it was these two boys shining bright like a diamond.
Batting first, Podar School notched up 124/2 in 15overs with left-handed opener Aditya Balivada top scoring the innings with a blazing 48ball 73. Aditya who scored a gritty 46 in the 1st match continued his good form smashing 8fours and 1six in his aggressive knock. Harshil at no.3 also gave good support scoring an unbeaten 40*.
The opposition team chasing 125 were bundled out for mere 22runs as Meet Samani bowled one of the impressive spells taking 5wkts while conceding only 10runs in 3overs. It was Meet’s sharp bowling which led to the batting collapse of the opposition eventually helping Lilavati Podar School win the match by a big margin of 102runs.
One of the biggest and most popular school level Tournament of Mumbai- DSO Tournament has begun on a positive note this year too with many young performers impressing one and all in the cricketing community. In one such match between Daya Sagar School and Pawar Public School at Azad Maidan, it was Jay whose perfomance helped his school clinch a dominating win.
Daya Sagar team winning the toss elected to bowl first with Pawar Public School notching up a very healthy total of 149/4 in 15overs. The openers gave a decent start but it was Jay Harplani at no.3 who top scored with a 25ball 53 laced with 5fours and 1six. Jay counter attacked the bowlers while also did good running between the wickets which eventually kept the run rate ticking.
Defending a total of 150runs. the pressure was more on Daya Sagar school as their batting collapsed managing to score only 50runs for the loss of 9wkts. It jay with the ball too as he picked up 3/14 in 3overs being the pick of the bowlers.
It was a big 100run win margin for Pawar Public School in a 15over match while Jay was the standout performer.
Imagine the pressure and nervousness when you are just 18yrs old and made to represent the National Team indirectly representing a billion plus population of India. Yes Jemimah- the young batting sensation who is mere 18yrs old is making headlines and why not when she has got some amazing performances to back them up.
The manner in which she is hitting the boundaries and sixes, the confidence at which she is batting, no one can say that she is an 18yr old playing with players much senior to her. From hitting 3 consecutive sixes in the 1st T20 becoming the 1st Indian women cricketer to achieve that feat to notching up 191runs in 4 innings at an impressive strike rate of 155.28 including 20fours and 8sixes, Jemimah is raising the bar for herself. Looking at her, you can get a déjà vu of how 17yrold Sachin played against Pakistan against the stalwarts like Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram and Imran Khan way back in 1989.
She already proved how hard a hitter she can be who can change the game in a span of few overs but in the 3rd and 4th T20’s she also showcased how good a finisher she is scoring 2 consecutive half centuries while chasing. Her fearless approach with the bat has helped India clinch a 4-0 series win vs Sri Lanka in their own den.
Jemimah certainly looks all set to have an amazing career representing India.
Jemimah in the T20 Series vs Sri Lanka
Matches-5
Innings-4
Runs-191
Average-63.80
Best-57*
Strike Rate-155.08
Boundaries-20
Sixes-8