As friendship cup is at its twilight, the tournament was an amazing success where we got to see some really well fought matches to some great individual performances and that is what this tournament is all about. This Saturday were the two intense semi-finals and these are the latest reports staright from the ground-
1st Semi Final Match – SHM ULHASNAGAR VS SIEMENS CORPORATES
Played at the Asahi ground, SHM Ulahsnagar won the toss and elected to bat first on the back of their strong batting line up. Manish Nagdev who opened the innings scored a match winning 63 off mere 33balls smashing 14fours setting the tone for the SHM Ulhasnagar innings. Deepak at no.3 also gave a crucial hand smashing a quick 42 pushing the team total to 177/9 in 20 overs. Defending a total of 178, all-rounder Manish Nagdev delivered with the ball too taking a stunning fifer (5/32 in 4overs) restricting Siemens to just 100/all out in 15overs. SHM Ulhasnagar won the match by 77runs and Manish Nagdev completely owned the match with his brilliant all-round perfomance.
MoM – Manish Nagdev
Manish Nagdev – SHM
2nd Semi Final Match – Rangers Reliance vs CCD
Played at the Asahi Glass ltd, Rangers won the toss and elected to bat first. However, their decision to bat first was not the best of the ones as they were bundled out for 73runs in 15 overs. Right arm spinner Vasudev bowled one of the most crucial spells giving away only 15runs while scalping 3wkts which really damaged the opposition. Aniket with 3/8 and Sachin with 2/21 also bowled tight which did the job for CCD.CCD chased down the score in merely 7.2 overs with Sandip scoring a scorching half century smashing 57 off mere 22balls making it one of the fastest half centuries of the tournament so far. CCD won the semi-finals by 8wkts and Vasudev Mhatre was declared ‘man of the match’.
MoM – VASUDEV MHATRE
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Played at the Raymond Cricket Ground, it was the all important quarter finals match between Hiranandani and Singhania School where in Singhania boys won the toss and elected to bat first on the back of their strong batting line up.
Singhania School did a fairly good job with the bat as they notched up a very healthy total of 281/9 in 44 overs. Even though the openers failed to provide a flying start, Tejas Chavan(42) who came at no.3, Om Keshkamat at no.5(41) and Parth ingale(78) at no.5 ressurected the Singhania innings. Parth remained the highest scorer smashing an impressive 78 off mere 49balls laced with 6fours and 4sixes. Parth looked really confident and aggressive while Rohit Tambe at no.7 also gave a handy contribution with 36runs. From the bowlers, Siddarth Kalde was the pick of the bowlers with 3/83.
Singhania school has won most of the matches successfully while defending and the major reason for that has been Singhania’s wild card Aryan Dalal. Aryan who has been piling wickets in large numbers this season and has taken 5wkt hauls in almost every 3rd match he plays. As usual, Aryan again came to the rescue coming up with match winning bowling figures of 5/32 in 9overs grinding hard for almost 9hrs on the field. Aryan gave crucial breakthroughs and did not allow the opposition to settle as Hiranandani School was all out for 119runs in 30.2 overs.
It was a yet another commendable win for Singhania School where in Parth impressed one and all with the bat while all-rounder Aryan continues to generate consistency with the ball.
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This year’s edition of Kanga Knockout has been exciting with some great individual performances as well as nail biting matches. Kanga matches always extract the best out of the batsman while polishes the skills of the bowlers and hence it’s a very important platform for Mumbai cricketers to play in this tournament. Here are some of the latest updates from the tournament-
FORT YOUNGSTER vs BORIVALI CC,
Played at the Sunder CC, Cross Maidan, Fort Youngsters won the toss and elected to field first. Their decision seemed to be perfecta s Borivali CC were all out for 205runs in 44.2 overs with Riyaz Shaikh (55) and Vinayak Pawar(45) top scoring with the bat. From the bowlers, Kunj Vora with 4/37 in 9overs was the pick of the bowlers as he bowled at impressive line and lengths. Chasing 206, Fort Youngsters chased down the score successfully with Kamal Savla(46) and Keval Haria(35) being the highest scorers. Kunj who came at no.3 made it an all round show as he also contributed with the bat scoring 33 helping his team win the match by 4wkts.
APOLLO CC vs KRP XI
Played at the Western Railway Cross Maidan, Apollo Youngsters won the toss and elected to bat first. However, they were all out for 154 in 36.1 overs where in everyone failed to score runs apart from Ameya Desai single handedly impressing one and all with a solid 57 off 70balls (4fours). The bowlers did a terrific job with spinners Vishal Karia(3/24) & Yuvang Shah(3/24) being the pick of the bowlers while all-rounder Rakesh also taking 2wkts. Chasing 155, KRP XI did felt some jitters with their top order losing wickets quickly. However, all-rounders Rakesh Naik(48) and Yuvang Shah(38*) took care of the chase at the middle order. Rakesh scored a crucial 48 off 41balls which had 5fours and 3sixes and continued his prolific run in Mumbai cricket while KRP XI won the match by 4wkts.
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You got to be a special talent if you can deliver in any sport under crunch and pressure situations. Today these two names just showed how special they are single handedly clinching the game away in the all important semi finals between DY Patil A and Bharat Petroleum Sports Association.
Played at the DY Patil Ground at Nerul, the strong DY Patil team who are known to have the best of the batting line ups rightly elected to bat first. Their decision to bat first was spot on as they amassed a gigantic total of 666/10 in 79.4 overs. Opening the innings Ruturaj Gaikwad simply counter attacked the bowlers smashing an entertaining 150 off mere 102balls which had 15fours and as many as 8sixes. Ruturaj also got able support from the experienced Shoaib Shaikh who scored a solid 73 while also stitching a 128run stand. Shubham also looked really good as always chipping in with 51(30b) but that was just the beginning of storm which was about to hit the BPSA team as the talented Naushad Shaikh who came at no.5 just did the unthinkable. Coming in at no.5, Naushad pounced on the positive momentum left behind by the top 4 as he went on to score a blistering double hundred. Naushad went on to score a ravishing 201 off just 129deliveries which had as many as 35fours and 2sixes in his marathon knock. It was on the back of Naushad’s scintillating 201, DY Patil reached such a big total. It is also the fastest double hundred in the Times Shield Tournament as he inks his name into the record list in style. Iqbal Abdullah as always proved handy with the bat scoring a quick 55* off 39balls.
Bharat Petroleum Sports Association in reply were 135/7 in 41.3 overs with their experienced veteran Vinit Indulkar fighting like a lone warrior scoring 83* off 111balls before DY Patil A won the match on 1st innings. Prashant Bhoir and Swapnil Singh were the pick of the bowlers taking 3 & 2wkts each.
BPSA also played with commendable spirit as they played the entire match with just 8players on the field as many of their players are in IPL and in Junior India camps.
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Played at the MB Union Cross Maidan, United Cricketers CC and Friends CC took on each other where in United Cricketers won the toss and decided to put Friends CC to bat first on a wicket which had assistance for the bowlers.
Their decision to bowl first was completely spot on as they restricted Friends CC to just 162/7 in 45 overs which is definitely not the biggest of totals to defend. The bowlers did a really impressive job with almost everyone bowling really well and chipping in with wickets while off spinner Shubham Gaikwad being the pick of the bowlers with 3/24 in 9overs. Shubham looked impressive bowling in the right areas.
Chasing a low total of 162, Sandeep Palav who opened the innings ensured the chase was taken care of. Sandeep who came into the news sometime ago for scoring one of the fastest double tons and a 7wkt haul in the same match impressed again anchoring the chase with 59*off 83balls which had 3fours and six. In this knock, Sandeep showed that he grind hard at the crease for long durations too making him a complete batsman. Shubham who took 3wkts also chipped in with 32 as United Cricketers CC won the match by 5wkts on the back of these two talented boys.
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Played at the Hindustan Construction Ground, Prime Group CC took on Young Association Cricket Club where in Young ACC won the toss and elected to field first looking at the pitch conditions which had some due for the bowlers.
Their decision to bowl first was spot on as Prime Group CC were reduced to 209all out in 44.2 overs with no.3 batsman Dinesh Gurnani being the highest scorer with a solid looking 52 off 93balls which had 5fours and a six in it while the rest of the batsman struggled to make much of an impact. From the bowlers, everyone chipped in with wickets bowling really well while off spinner Vinay Singh with 3/41 was the pick of the bowlers bowling really tight.
Chasing 210, it’s not the easiest of job but Karan Hatkar who has showed this season his skills with the bat with attacking starts continued to impress scoring 68 off 54balls opening the innings. Karan who smashed 11fours and a six mostly dealt in boundaries while he also got good support from Sanjay Yadav who scored 42runs coming at no.3 stitching a crucial 81run partnership. Vinay Singh who was the pick of the bowlers also made a crucial contribution with the bat down the order smashing a quick 30(2fours, 2sixes).
Young Association Cricket Club eventually won the match by 1wkt where in Prime Group bowlers did gave a tough fight with Dinesh also bagging 3wkts along with a half century. It was a nice win in the end where in Karan Hatkar again stood out with his blazing batting.
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Played at the National CC, Cross Maidan, Brothers CC and Mulund C.H CC took on each other with Brothers CC winning the toss and electing to bat first on a track which had assistance for both the batsman as well as the bowlers.
Brothers CC, batting first were all out for 156 runs but not a single batsman apart from their solid opener Utkarsh Bhagat who scored a solid 56 off 71balls which had 7fours and one six. From the bowlers, off-spinner Nishant Kadam was the pick of the bowlers taking 4/30 in 8 overs. Nishant was impressive with the ball bowling in the right areas which reaped rewards for him as well as his team. Apart from him, Vijay and Mahesh also bagged 2wkts.
Chasing 157, Nishant opening the innings scored a crucial 37 off 48balls (5fours) with his opening partner Arjun Gawade who scored 35. Both the openers gave a good start while Bharat Shedekar at no.4 also scored 32 as Mulund CH CC won the match by 5wkts.
It was a big win for Mulund CC while Nishant Kadam stood out in the match with his excellent all-round perfomance.
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Youth’s Own Union CC on their home ground took on Dashing CC where in Youth’s Own Union won the toss and elected to bat first on the back of their good batting line up. The wicket also looked good for providing assistance to the batsman.
However, Dashing CC batting first made a moderate total of 195/9 in 45 overs. Despite their team struggling on 18/3 and 29/4, Ibrahim Khan who came at no.5 ressurected the innings back with a match winning 83 off 111balls. While the batsmen were struggling at one end, Ibrahim on the other end ensured that his team reaches atleast a decent total with his impressive batting which had 13boundaries in it. The lower order also contributed well with Prajan and Nirav contributing with 25 & 24runs respectively. From the bowlers Pritam Sahu and Pritish Gire took 3wkts each.
Defending a moderate total of 195, the pressure was more on Dashing CC to bowl well. They eventually did a good job as they bundled out Youth’s Own Union for 131runs all out in 42overs. The major reason for their batting collapse was Dashing CC’s left arm spinner Vinesh Dusa who took a stunning fifer. Talented Vinesh who kept on bowling at difficult line and length for the batsman to score runs freely came up with bowling figures of 5/32 in 9overs which did the maximum damage. Vinesh kept on giving breakthroughs and it eventually resulted in Dashing CC winning the match by 63runs.
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Played at the Navroz, Azad Maidan, two of the most powerful corporate cricket teams namely Omni Global and Tech Mahindra took on each other where in Tech Mahindra won the toss and elected to bat first with an aim of making a big total and putting the opposition under pressure.
Tech Mahindra batting first were however bundled out for 92runs all out in 19.2 overs as not a single batsman managed to make much of an impact with opener Rajshekhar’s 20 being the highest score. Tech Mahindra’s batting line up collapsed badly as Omni Global bowlers did a really impressive job. The bowler who stood out and was the pick of the bowler too was Omkar Maldikar coming up with match winning bowling figures of 4/21 in 4 overs. Omkar was not only economical but also kept on giving breakthroughs consistently.
Chasing mere 93, it was just a formality for Omni Global team as they won the match by 7wkts and chased down the score in just 12.5 overs. Opener Vishal gave a quick start with his 26ball 39 but it was Omkar who finished of the chase anchoring it with a 46* off 39balls which included 6fours in it.
Omni Global won in commanding fashion and it was surely on the back of their all-rounder Omkar Maldikar.
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Played at the Central Ground in Thane, it was the all important finals between Royal Cricket Club and Prime Group CC where in Prime Group CC won the toss and elected to bat first on the back of their strong batting line up.
Prime Group CC batting first did a decent job as they notched up a very healthy total of 254/10 in 40 overs. Opening the innings, Siddhant Singh played a solid knock of 64runs in 71balls smashing 9fours and a six. Siddhant played some solid cricketing shots and developed the positive momentum while Ranjeet Desmukh who came at no.4 changed the game completely into his team’s favor scoring a 67ball 83 laced with 6fours and 3sixes. Ranjit batted aggressively and kept the scoreboard ticking with his impressive batting. The bowlers could have done a better job while Vinay Keni was the pick of the bowlers with 3/27 in 5 overs.
Chasing 255, Royal CC were 4/33 and 6/80 which further shifted the momentum in Prime Group CC’s favor. The bowlers did a fantastic job with Royal CC being all out for 140runs in 39 overs. All-rounder Ranjit Desmukh was also the pick of the bowler taking 3/19 while Bharat Meher also taking 2wkts with their left arm spin.
Prime Group CC won the match by 114 runs on the back of Ranjit’s all-round show and Siddhant’s solid fifty!
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