Mumbai’s Own Cricket Awards powered by NATARAJ PENS was a thumping success and why not when as many as 6 categories of cricket at the grassroot level and some of the most amazing talents in cricket at the local level were given a platform of appreciation for the hard work and the talent they put to extract the best performances out of themselves and play cricket passionately.
The Corporate Category of Cricket Awards was also conducted successfully under the presence of star studded panel comprising of of Sir Umesh Patwal (Ex-coach of Afghanistan National team and current coach with Nepal Cricket Team), Mrs. Sangeeta Kamat(MCA Women’s selector) and Sir Nitin Surve( Ex-Ranji Cricketer).
Here are the winners who bagged the awards-
Best Batsman in the Corporate Category-Kushal Shah from Credit Agricole
Kushal with 221runs and 2wkts in 2matches bagged the best batsman award and why not when he has batted so well. His 221runs also included a stunning century which came off just 56balls. Kushal who has developed an image of an attacking batsman is surely one batsman to look out for in T20’s.
1st Runner up-Rakesh Trivedi from VMS (363runs in 7matches and a wkt)
2nd Runner-up-Chetan Khetam from Zuventus(208runs in 4matches)
Best Bowler in the Corporate Category- Rahul Bhadreshwara from Omni Team (24wkts & 160runs in 11matches)
Rahul has been one of the most premier bowlers in the corporate category and his ability to take wickets at regular intervals in crunch situations makes him a very potent bowler. Almost 2wkts in every match shows how genuine wicket taker Rahul has been and hence he clinched the “Best bowler award’ in the corporate category.
1st Runner up-Ketan Kharat from WNS team (20wkts in 7matches)
2nd Runner-up-Prasad Rahate from IPCA team (11wkts in 5matches)
Best All-Rounder in the Corporate Category- Rahul Mishra from Credit Agricole (209runs and 8wkts in 7matches)
Rahul has been one consistent utility player and he ensures he always contributes in some or the other way whenever he plays. His records this season are a testimony to the fact that is one promising all-rounder who won the ‘Best-All-Rounder Award” in the club category.
1St Runner up- Darshit Zaveri from Motilal Oswal team (338runs and 5wkts in 6 matches)
2nd Runner-up- Jay Pandya from VMS (216runs and 14wkts in 9matches)
Rakesh Rao clinched the most popular cricketer award in the Corporate Category and why not when he has been a proven match winner at the T20 level for the FSS team. Rakesh won the award by a healthy margin of 166 votes.
Kanga Knockout matches this summer have been simply fantastic with some great individual performances and nail biting matches. Kanga leagues over the years have been a breeding ground in cricket and it’s a platform which not only gives a platform for players to perform but it also hones the skills of every cricketer under tough pitch conditions. Here are the latest updates-
Fort Youngster CC vs Swastik CC
Played at the Navroz, Azad Maidan, Swastik CC won the toss and elected to bat first. However their decision to bat first fell flat as they were all out for 111runs in 28.4 overs on the back of Meet Veera’s 4/38 and Vinit Dedhia’s super hat-trick. While Meet took care of the upper order, Vinit cleaned up the lower order with a fantastic hat-trick along with Kunj’s 2wkts. Chasing 112, Fort Youngster CC won the match by 4wkts with Jayesh P scoring 59* while Vinit making it an all-round show scoring 23* too with the bat!
Union Cricket academy Kalyan vs Oriental cc
Played at the LIC Cross Maidan, Oriental CC won the toss and elected to bat first but were all out for 153runs on the back of some really tight bowling by the Union CA bowlers where in Meet Samani was the pick of the bowlers with 3wkts. Chasing 154, Union CA won the match by 3wkts and chased it down in mere 24.3 overs as opener Shirish More’s quick 60 off 43balls which had 8fours and 2sixes in it. Union CA would have found it difficult had Shirish not fired at the top of the order.
Friend’s Union cc. Vs Young Boys cc
Friends Union CC batting first made 190 which is not the biggest of total. Even that could have been not possible had Manish Bhatt (54) and Ronak Goswami (44) had not given crucial contributions with the bat. Both the batsman looked really confident while the whole team struggled from the other end. Defending a not so big total of 191, slow left arm spinner Manish Bhatt turned the tides into his team’s favor as he came up with a match winning fifer scalping 5/24 in 7overs which eventually bundled out Young Boys CC to just 66/10 all out in 21.2 overs. Ashok Chauhan from Boy’s CC also bowled as he took 5wkts but was in the losing cause.
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Played between Patan CC and Gamdevi Cricketers CC at the Azad Maidan Ground in Mumbai, Patan CC won the toss and elected to bat first as the wicket had some support for the batsmen too.
However, Patan CC batting first made a moderate total of 194/10 in 41.3 overs. The issue in Patan’s cc batting was everyone chipping in with starts but not a single batsman managing to convert their starts into a big total. Opener Vinit Mestry and Suraj at the middle order were the highest scorers with 30 & 39 respectively. Gamdevi bowlers bowled well with almost everyone chipping in with wickets while the 16yr old pacer Aryan Badhe & Nandan Chikhilkar taking 2wkts each.
Chasing 195, Gamdevi CC lost their openers in single digit scores but it was the attacking Vaibhav Chavan who changed the game. Vaibhav seemed to be in a hurry to finish the game quickly on his own as he went on to score a blazing 105* off mere 70balls which is amongst the fastest tons in the Kanga Knockout Tournament so far. Vaibhav took on the bowlers with pure authority as he smashed 10fours and 5sixes covering almost every corner of the ground.
Eventually Gamdevi chased down the score successfully in mere 28.2 overs and won the match by 6wkts on the back of Vaibhav’s enterprising ton.
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Played at the Islam Gymkhana Ground, Parsee Gymkhana and Payyade Sports Club took on each other for the final face off of the Salar Jung Tournament where in Parsee Gymkhana won the toss and elected to bat first on the back of their strong batting line up.
Their decision to bat first was completely spot on as they scored a superb total of 209/6 in 20 overs. Despite a shaky start by the openers, attacking batsman Aman Khan who is one of the most destructive batsmen right now in Mumbai Cricket stayed true to his abilities delivering when it was needed in the finals! Aman who came at no.3 scored a blazing 71 faced only 44balls smashing 6fours and 3biggies to change the game in Parsee Gymkhana’s favor. Raunaq Sharma who has also had a good season gave him good support with 35runs while Shams who came at no.5 gave the finishing touch like Andre Rusell smashing a brutal 12ball 41 which had no boundaries but 6 sixes to push Parsee Gymkhana to 209/6 in 20overs. Shams just showed everybody how potent he is at the middle order.
It is always a pressure situation to chase 210 in a T20 game and especially when it’s the all important finals of the tournament, the pressure increases more. Payyade SC faced a top order collapse with the experienced Parag Khanapurkar’s 37 being the highest score. Eventually Payyade SC managed to score only 144/9 in 20 overs with Raunaq Sharma and Punit Tripathy taking 3 & 2wkts each.
Parsee Gymkhana lift the trophy for the 2nd time in a row and win the finals by 65runs where in Aman and Shams changed the game with their blazing batting.
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Played between Khalsa College and MD College at the DVC Academy, Khalsa College won the toss and elected to bat first on a batting track which had some due for the batsman to score runs and make a big total to defend.
Khalsa College were off to a flying start on the back of their two terrific openers namely Japjeet Singh Randhawa and Yash Chavan. Both the players took on the bowlers with utmost authority with Yash scoring 53 off 38balls (7fours, 1six) while Japjeet going on to score a massive hundred. Japjeet who has been scoring runs consistently this season continued his good form as he took the game away almost single handedly scoring 106 off 63balls smashing 13fours and 4biggies in almost every corner of the ground taking the team total to 205/3 in 20 overs.
Defending a big total of 204runs, the pressure was surely on MD College to chase it down at 10runs per over. However, the pressure of chasing rubbed on them as they were bundled out for just 80runs in 16.1 overs. Almost every bowler chipped in with a wicket or two but it was Shreyas who grabbed all the attention with his hat-trick. Shreyas took a hat-trick at a very crucial stage and changed the momentum with the ball in his team’s favor.
Eventually, Khalsa College won the match by 125 and Japjeet Singh was declared ‘man of the match’ for his ravishing ton.
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Played at the Western Railways Cross Maidan, KRP XI toon on Sunrise Cricket Club where in KRP XI won the toss and elected to bat first on the back of their strong batting line up as they have a batting depth till almost no.8.
KRP XI batting first made a very decent total of 292/9 in 45overs which is anyday a competitive total. Almost everyone gave contribution with the bat while Yogesh Rajput at no.3 top scored with an aggressive 54 off 49balls which had 5fours and 2sixes. Yogesh developed the positive momentum while Yuvang Shah (52 off 39) and Rakesh Naik(34 off 27) made full use of the momentum as they both engaged in dominating cricket at the middle order. The lower order consisting of Kaustubh Bothere(26) and Chirag Paghdhare(37) also made crucial contributions.
Chasing 293 in mere 45 overs, the pressure was surely more on Sunrise CC to play aggressive cricket. However, they were faltered out for mere 89runs all out as KRP bowlers did an excellent job bowling tight. All-rounders starting from Padmanubham M, Kaustubh, Rakesh Naik and Yuvang Shah all bowled in tandem taking 2wkts each.
KRP XI won the match by a mammoth 204runs and it was surely a great collective team perfomance by the players.
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Played at the Navroz CC, Stylo Cricketers & Payyade SC took on each other where in Stylo Cricketers won the toss and elected to bat first with an aim of making a decent total and put the opposition under pressure.
Stylo Cricketers batting first made 178/10 in 58 overs which is definitely not the best of the totals to defend. From Stylo hardly anyone managed to much of an impact apart from their middle order bat Aamir Shaikh who scored 56 off 123balls (7fours). Off-spinner Jugraj Mehta bowled really well and continues to impress taking 4wkts while Aman Tiwari also bowled well taking 3wkts.
Defending a low total of 179, the pressure was more on Stylo Cricketers than Payyade SC. However, Stylo Cricketers gave a fantastic tough fight on the back of left-arm medium pacer Arun Gupta’s 5/46 in 15overs with 1 maiden. Arun Gupta bowled in the right areas with nice discipline giving timely breakthroughs while the rest of the bowlers also bowled well with almost everyone chipping in with wickets which eventually restricted Payyade SC to 138/all out.
Stylo Cricketers won the match by 41runs as Arun Gupta engaged in a match-winning bowling spell taking the game away from the opposition.
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Played at the DPC Matunga, it was the all important clash between Western Railway ‘B’ and AG(L&R) where in AG(L&R) won the toss and elected to field first with an aim of restricting the opposition to a very low total.
Their decision to field first seemed to have fallen flat as Western Railway made a very big total of 387/10 in 76.2 overs. The top order chipped in with 30’s and 40’s with opener Harmesh Somaiya giving a solid start with 42runs but it was Kunal Karamchandani at no.5 who changed the script of the game with his solid 163runs of 178balls. Kunal coming at middle order brought his team back into the game smashing 22fours and 2sixes while also accelerating the team total to a very respectable one. Kunal kept on rotating the strike while also smashed some amazing shots as he took on the bowlers with impressive confidence. Sunil Yadav at no.7 also gave a helping hand with a gritty 51. From the bowlers, Imtiaz Ahmed fought like a lone warrior taking a brilliant 5/54 in 16.2 overs. Imtiaz bowled at impressive line and lengths and was the only bowler who looked dangerous enough to trouble the Western Railway batsman.
AG(L&R) batting were all out for 311runs. Their openers Srujan Athawale(36) and M.Acharya(42) gave a good start but it was the experienced Nikhil Patil sr. who silently showcased his class with an aggressive 130 off 109balls at no.3. Left-handed Nikhil smashed 18fours and 4sixes dismantling almost every bowler on’the way as he time and again proves how valuable batsman he can be for any team he plays for. Nikhil who has been playing consistently for years while has always been the crisis man scoring in crunch situations was given a snub in many tournaments including the recently concluded Mumbai T20 Premier league ’18 despite being a class batsman.
Western Railway were 41 for no loss before the game ended and they won the match on 1st innings. While Kunal impressed one and all with his match winning massive ton, on the other hand Nikhil keeps on doing what he does best and that is to score runs!
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Friendship Cup has been progressing with some amazing individual performances and some thrilling matches so far. Checkout the latest updates of the Friendship Cup ’18 played on last weekend on Sunday.
FRIENDSHIP TROPHY 2018 – APRIL 15 Saturday MATCHES
1st Match – 9 AM – 11.30 AM – CCD vs SHM ULHASNAGAR
Played at the Asahi Glass Ltd, Taloja, SHM Ulhasnagar won the toss and elected to bat first as they scored a massive total of 167/3 in 15overs. Opener Manish Nagdev gave an electric start smashing 50 off 36balls with 4fours and 2sixes while the rest of the batsman also batted really well chipping in with 30’s.
Chasing 168 in 15overs is always tough and CCD managed to score only 104/6 in 15overs with Santosh top scoring with 40 while Sanjay D and Sanjay S bagging 3wkts each. SHM Ulhasnagar won the match by 61runs while Manish Nagvdev was declared ‘man of the match’ for his attacking half century.
MoM – Manish Nagdev
2nd Match –1.45 AM – 2.15 PM – FCC SMASHERS vs INDIA FIRST INSURANCE
Played at the same ground at afternoon, IFI won the toss and elected to bat first but their decision to bat first fell flat as they were all out for 71runs in 13 overs. The bowlers did an excellent job with Ajay Mishra being the pick of the bowlers taking 3/12 in 2overs while Pandurang and Ashish taking 2wkts each. IFI chased down the score in just 9.3overs and won the match by 7wkts where in Ajay Mishra was declared ‘man of the match’
MoM – Ajay Mishra
3rd Match – 3 PM – 5.30 PM – RANGERS CC vs MULUND EXCEL
Played at the same ground in the evening slot, Mulund Excel batted first after winning the toss and little were Rangers CC aware about the storm which was about to hit them. Opener Ram Singh scored a massive 60ball 118 to take the game away from the opposition. Ram Singh smashed 15fours and 5sixes and engaged in pure dominance to take his team total towards a healthy 181/4 in 15overs. Rangers CC managed to score only 122/9 in 15overs. The bowlers did an amazing job as Mulund Excel won the match by 59runs while Ram Singh was obviously declared ‘man of the match’.
MOM – Ram Singh
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Played at the Sharad Pawar Academy at BKC, two of the very strong teams of Times Cricket-Tata Power and DY Patil took on each other where in Tata Sports won the toss and elected to bat first. DY Patil has been untouchable when it comes to defeating them and Tata Sports has always been one balanced side, hence an intense competition like England-Australia was bound to happen!
Tata Sports batting first amassed a mammoth total of 435/10 in 101.3 overs. Experienced warhorse Praful Waghela who opened the innings stitched a massive 266runs stand with the talented and proven batsman Nikhil Patil Jr. While the left handed Praful went on to score a brilliant 157 off 235 balls which was simply majestic laced with 22fours and a six, Nikhil on the other hand displayed his solid cricketing skills once again with an elegant looking 118 off 136balls which had 18fours in it. Sairaj Patil who came at no.7 gave the finishing touch to the innings with an almost run a ball 81(7fours and 4sixes). From DY Patil, as always their experienced warhorse Pravin Tambe was the pick of the bowlers taking 4/121 in 24.3 overs.
The famed batting line up of DY Patil could not make much of an impact this time as they were all out for 228runs with Hardik Tamore top scoring with a solid 80 off 154balls along with Arun Yadav’s 40 down the order. From the bowlers Siddarth Raut was the pick of the bowler taking 3/44 while left arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar was also impressive with the ball. DY Patil faced a follow on and they batted nicely in the 2nd innings with Shashank Singh smashing 58 while the in-form Sarvesh scoring an unbeaten 107 off 144balls. Sarvesh continued his good form with the bat while remained unbeaten with Subramaniam D(33*). DY Patil were 222/4 in 62 overs before the match ended and Tata Sports won the match on 1st innings.
It was a match with great individual performances and as it was expected it turned out to be one exciting match where Tata Sports eventually stood out on the back of Nikhil and Praful.
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