Friendship Cup Cricket Tournament since years has been an able platform for cricketers to perform at their very best. Every weekend some exciting matches and individual performances are witnessed and here are some of the latest updates on the tournament.
FRIENDSHIP TROPHY 2018
1st Match- 9 AM – 11.30 AM -FCC SMASHERS vs CRICKET CLUB OF DOMBIVLI
Played at the Asahi Glass ltd. FCC smashers who have a good batting line up elected to bat first after winning the toss, Batting first, FCC made a decent total of 115/4 in 15 overs where the top order collapsed but Ashish at no.5 scored a fantastic 51 off 29balls(4fours,4sixes) to resurrect the innings. CCD bowlers did a good job with every bowler chipping in with wicket. Chasing 116, CCD won the match comfortably on the back of Santosh Gole’s blazing 21ball 43* which had 3fours and 3sixes which changed the script of the game. Eventually CCD won the match by 5wkts and Santosh was right declared man of the match.
MoM – Santosh Gole
2nd Match – 11.45 AM – 2.15 PM -SIEMENS vs WARRIORS CC
Played at the same ground, Warriors CC won the toss and elected to field first looking at CCD’s chasing perfomance. Warriors CC batting first made a very healthy total of 126/8 in 15 overs as Jayesh K at the middle order played a crucial hand with a quick 43. Defending a total of 126, Siemens almost clinched the victory line falling just 5runs short of what could have been a great win. However, Gurudas Bate’s match winning spell of 4/13 in 3 overs ensured his team Warriors CC were in the game and helped his team clinch a victory. Gurudas bowled really tight and was impressive which eventually helped him earn man of the match.
MoM – Gurudas Bate
3rd Match – 3 PM – 5.30 PM – SHM ULHASNAGAR vs INDIA FIRST INSURANCE
In the 3rd match played at evening on the same ground, IFI won the toss and elected to field first and little did they knew on the havoc which was about to hit them. SHM Ulhasnagar made a massive total of 169/6 in 15 overs with their top order batsman firing with quick 30’s while Sagar Matani at no.7 giving the finishing touch smashing an entertaining 46* off just 23balls which had 7fours and 2sixes. In reply, IFI were all out for 96runs where in every bowler bowled tight while also chipped in with wickets. All-rounder Sagar was also handy with the ball bagging 2wkts. SHM Ulhasnagar won the match by 73runs and Sagar was declared ‘man of the match’
MoM – Sagar Matani
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Played between two really promising teams namely ASF & Achievers, Achievers won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Bengal Cricket Club, Shivaji Park which had some due for the bowlers too trouble the batsman.
ASF team batting first made 234/9 in 40 overs which is a very decent total to defend. Despite a poor start by the openers, Musheer Khan at no.3 and Omar at no.4 played fighting knocks of 75 and 41 respectively. Musheer who faced 86balls smashed 6fours while Omar smashed 3fours in his 45ball knock. The bowlers did a nice job of bowling tight with Anurag and Anil being the pick of the bowlers taking 2wkts each.
Chasing 235 in 40 overs is not tough but not easy either if defended properly by the bowlers. ASF gave a good start removing two openers of Achievers but Hitesh who came at no.3 played a match winning knock of 88 off just 69balls smashing 7fours while he also got excellent support from Nihal Joshi who came at no.4. Nihal also scored 55 off 40balls which had 5fours in it. Both the batters looked terrific as they single handedly steered the chase. Mangesh remained unbeaten on 26* with Vishal (6*) sealing off the chase in 34.2 overs.
Achievers won the finals by 4wkts and lift the prestigious trophy on the back of Hitesh and Nihal. In the awards ceremony Sharvay who was literally a run machine for Titans was declared the ‘Best Batsman” while Vinod Bhanushali from ASF team was declared the ‘best bowler’ while 9yr old promising wicket keeper Abhigyan kunda from Asf team got the special award from Praveen tambe.
It was all in all a successful tournament with great individual performances and some nail biting matches while the tournament also gave youngsters a platform to perform!
Awards Ceremony- Kaustubh Pawar along with Pravin Tambe being the chief guest.
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Played between KPCA and Salgaonkar Cricket Academy at the Bengal Cricket Club, Shivaji Park, it was a crucial 40 over clash between two really promising teams where in Salgaonkar CA won the toss and elected to bat first on a dicey track.
Salgaonkar CA batting first made 203/8 in 40 overs which is a decent total but not an intimidating one if you have a strong batting line up to chase it down! None of the batsman converter their starts with Vrishin and Vaibhav at the middle order being the top scorers with their respective 30’s. From the bowlers, Yatin with 3/17 was impressive being the pick of the bowlers while Sankesh & Nawaz bagging two wickets each.
Chasing 204 in 240 deliveries is most of the times achievable and surely when you have attacking batsman like Sagar Shah at the middle order. Despite a sluggish start by KPCA at the top of the order, Sagar Shah who came at no.4 anchored the innings going to smash a brutal 113* off just 82balls smashing 15fours. Sagar who has already scored some stunning hundreds in T20 cricket showed that he can be a big asset in the longer format of the game too as he single handedly steered the chase with all-rounder Yatin remaining not out on 35* off 29balls.
KPCA won the match by 7wkts and Sagar Shah was declared man of the match for his crucial 113*. Yatin was also impressive in the match with 3wkts and 35*.
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Played at Payyade Cricket Ground in Kandivali, it was the all important finals between two really talented teams of Kandivali Cricket namely Halai Lohana Mahajan Mumbai and KSG Champions where in KSG Champions won the toss and elected to field first.
HLMM batting first made a decent total of 148/6 in 20overs where in despite a shaky start at the top of the order, Kushal Thakkar and Parth Rughani tried getting their team back into the game smashing 46 and 30* respectively. Kushal who smashed 46runs faced only 25balls smashing 5fours and 2sixes while Parth facing 21balls hitting 3fours and a six.
Chasing 149, KSG Champions were off to a solid start and Maulik Mehta who has certainly become one of the most feared batsmen in this tournament once again pounced on the good start left behind by the openers smashing a match winning 62* off 37balls(7fours,3sixes). Maulik dismantled the bowlers and changed the momentum immediately while Parth Mathuria also gave good support with his 22ball 30.
KSG Champions eventually won the game by 6wkts and 1.3overs to spare and Maulik was declared the ‘man of the match’. For obvious reasons, the attacking all-rounder was also declared the ‘best batsman in the tournament’
Maulik Mehta’s fantastic run in the KSG Tournament 2017-18
Matches-10
50’s-4
100’s-2
Batting Average-94.00
Runs-752-
Strike Rate-209.47
Boundaries- 88fours & 39sixes
Wkts-14
In T20’s-
Matches- 9
Runs-313
Average– 39.13
Boundaries-34fours and 15sixes
30’s-3
50’s-2
Strike Rate– 173.89
Wkts-6
What an all-rounder indeed- A total of 1065runs in 19matches at an average of 59.16 & a strike rate of 192.00 along with 20wkts!
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Played at the Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana at Kandivali in Mumbai, it was the all important finals of the Mumbai Junior Shield Tournament 18 where so many promising teams grinded hard and gave their bets. Finally two of the most talented and toughest teams Union CA and Regal CC reached the finals after topping the table for the one last final clash.
Union Cricket Academy batting first were in for a shock as they were all out for just 114runs in the penultimate final game. None of the batsman managed to make much of an impact as the bowlers did a stupendous job with Nikhil Bhopnikar taking 3/35 in 9 overs, Saeed taking 2/33 in 9.1 overs while Nehal Shaikh bowling a impressive and economic spell of 2/5 in 7overs which included as many as 5maidens.
Chasing a total of 115 and that too in the finals of a game was seemingly difficult to defend for Union CA bowlers as Regal CC chased down the score with superlative ease winning the match by 6wkts. Nehal Shaikh who was the most impressive with the ball was also the one who took the responsibility of chasing on his shoulders with a match winning knock of 61 off 49balls(9fours) alongwith Arun Bobade’s 29.
The prestigious title of Mumbai junior Shield ’18 belonged to Regal CC as they won the finals while Nehal Shaikh was declared ‘man of the match”. In the awards ceremony- Nehal Shaikh was also declared the best batsman in the tournament while Nikhil Bhopnikar was adjudged the ‘best bowler” award.
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Played at the National Cricket Club, two really promising teams namely Brothers Cricket Club and Jaideep Cricket Club took on each other with Jaideep CC winning the toss and electing to bat first on a track which had some due for the bowlers too.
Their decision to bat first did not seem to be accurate as they were all out for 165runs in 42.2 overs which is definitely not the biggest of totals. Opener Swapnil Sawant and Aniket K were the highest scorers with their 30’s. Brothers CC bowled really well and especially their right arm medium pacer Aniket Maralkar who came up with impressive bowling figures of 4/39 in 8.2 overs. Aniket bowled with nice discipline alongwith good line and length which reaped rewards for him as well as his team. Experienced all-rounder Kishor Waghela, Balwant Dodake and Aagam Shah also gave good support scalping 2wkts each.
Chasing a total of 166, Brothers CC were off to a poor start with openers getting out early but no.3 batsman Haresh Dodia anchored the innings and stabilized the chase with a graceful knock of 71runs in 95balls smashing 8fours in it. All-rounder Kishor Waghela who came at no.4 just below him was in a different mood altogether as he looked in a hurry to finish off the chase quickly hitting a 25ball 41 with 6fours and a six. Eventually, Brothers CC won the match by 4wkts and it was a dominating perfomance from them where Aniket, Haresh and Kishor stood out with their individual performances.
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Played vs Bombay Gymkhana on their own turf, Bombay Gymkhana won the toss & decided to put PJ Hindu Gymkhana to bat first with an aim of restricting them to a low total.
However, PJ Hindu Gymkhana did a fairly decent job batting first notching up 156/4 in 20overs. The openers gave a decent start with Madhav Kotak smashing a solid 30 while it was the talented Megh Adhvaryu who has piled a lot of runs in the longer formats this season showing his skills in T20’s too smashing a superlative 50 off 36balls. It was a hard working innings which included lots of running between the wickets with only 4boundaries. Saurabh Bahutule who came at no.4 also batted well scoring 43runs off 34deliveries taking their team to cross the 150run mark.
Defending a total of 157 which is many a times chaseable, PJ Hindu Gymkhana did a terrific job with the ball as they restricted Bombay Gymkhana boys to a paltry total of 54runs all out in 13.2 overs. Paresh Shah (2/6 in 3overs) and Madhav Kotak(3/19 in 4overs) ripped apart the top order while Dwij Adhvaryu cleaned up the lower order with a match winning bowling spell of 4/14 in 3.2 overs. All the bowlers collectively bowled tight while taking wickets in almost every over which helped them win the match by 102runs.
PJ Hindu Gymkhana dominated right from the start while Madhav Kotak was declared ‘man of the match’ for his all-round show. It is always good to see two brothers playing together as Dwij and Megh were equally impressive in the match. Playing together for the same team, surely they must be getting a feeling of Flower brothers or the Pathan Brothers!
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Played between Mumbai police and Navi Mumbai at the Police Gymkhana Ground in Mumbai, it was the all exciting clash where in Greater Mumbai Police “A” won the toss and elected to bat first on a track which had support for the batsmen too.
Batting first, Navi Mumbai Police made a healthy total of 181/4 in 20 overs. The batters did a really good job with opener Ashish Mhatre, Amit and Ravi chipping in with quick 30’s to push the team total to a very competitive one. From Mumbai Police, Sudhakar Siddul was the pick of the bowlers taking 2/30 in 2.4 overs.
Chasing a 180+ total in a T20 game is always difficult and especially when one of your openers is out for a duck but solid opener Sameer Patil from the other played the anchor’s role to perfection smashing 61* off 54balls which had 5fours and lots of running between the wickets. What’s more he got fantastic support from the aggressive Rohan bhosale who came at no.3 to smash a brutal 72 off 43balls smashing 9fours and 2sixes. Rohan turned the tides with his blazing batting while also stitched a match winning 133run stand with Sameer which eventually helped Mumbai Police win the match by 8wkts and 1.4overs to spare.
Mumbai Police won the match in a commanding manner and it was definitely Sameer and Roshan who stood out in the match.
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Two really promising and young teams Prime Group Cricket Club and Dadar Cricket Club took on each other at the iconic Western Railway Cross Maidan where talented cricketers grind day in and day out. Prime Group winning the toss elected to bat first with a confident top order in their side.
Batting first, Prime Group were off to a flying start despite losing their opener Sameer Dighe for a duck. Opener Vivek Yadav & Dinesh Gurani who came at no.3 ressurected the innings back as both the players smashed fantastic half centuries while also giving a solid 120run stand between them. Vivek who scored 66 off 91balls opening the innings smashed 8fours and a six while Dinesh Gurani on the other hand was really impressive with his attacking strokeplay hitting a 45ball 58 laced with 5fours and 3sixes. Despite a solid start by these two, the batting line up below them collapsed as off-spinner Soham Rane came up with great display of bowling. Soham came up with a 5wkt haul with impressive bowling figures of 5/21 in 8.3overs making him one of the standout bowlers in the entire match with his wily spin. On the back of Soham’s 5wkt haul, Prime Group CC from 124/2 were 213all out in 40.3 overs.
Despite a great bowling effort by Soham and Co. Dadar CC choked out while chasing getting all out for just 89runs all-rounder Soham Rane’s 20 at no.3 being the highest score in their innings. It was a collectively tight bowling perfomance from Prime Group bowlers as Rohit Phatak, Dinesh Gurani, Arvind Yadav and Ankit Bhave scalping 2wkts each.
It was a great match with some great performances where in Prime Group CC won the match by 124runs while Soham who was from the losing team won the hearts of many. Dinesh Gurani’s all-round show and Vivek Yadav’s solid half centuries played a crucial role in the win.
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A grueling season of March is considered the most intenseful, enjoyable and prolific season in Mumbai and Indian Cricket. Maximum tournaments right from the grassroot level to International level are played all over the nation.
Hundreds of matches are played with all the grounds jampacked and booked in this month and definitely when there are this many matches being played, there will be a lot of performances and hence being in the Top 5 Knock holders in Mumbai Cricket for the month of March is definitely a matter of pride to get featured in. It was as always difficult to shortlist out of hundreds of performances but these were surely the players who won the hearts!
Joint 5th– Aditya Shemadkar (LHB)-19ball 50 (fastest 50 of Mumbai Junior Shield ‘18)
Aditya Shemadkar is one such all-rounder who has had a great season. He has also smashed a hundred in the same tournament but this knock was all the more special as it was the fastest fifty in the Mumbai Junior Shield Tournament. The attacking all-rounder smashed 6sixes while only a boundary to push New Hind’s total to 268/7 in 45overs. Eventually New Hind won that match by 148runs Aditya’s 19ball 53 was a treat to the eyes too!
5th– Sujit Nayak (LHB)-99* in Mumbai T20 Premier League 2018
Played at Wankhede stadium, Sujit makes it to no.5 and why not when he registered the highest score of this year’s Mumbai T20 Premier league. Sobo supersonics batting first against Arcs Andheri were off to a flying start and Attacking all-rounder Sujit Nayak who is known for his firebrand batting this time pounced on the momentum left behind by the openers as he spelled carnage over the Arcs Andheri bowlers going on to smash a 42ball entertaining 99*. Sujit fell just one run short of what could have been the 1st ton of MPL. Sujit literally took on the bowlers and lit every corner of the ground with as many as 6fours and 9big sixes much to the entertainment of his teammates and the spectators alike. Sobo Supersonics reached a massive total of 236/3 in 20 overs on the back of his superlative innings & eventually won that match by 78runs and Sujit was declared ‘man of the match’
4th-Yogesh Takawale-140* off 115balls (RHB), Young Comrade Shield ‘18
Played at the DY Patil Ground between Mumbai Police and DY Patil, Mumbai Police won the toss and elected to field first. Maybe they were not aware how strong DY Patil’s batting line-up is as DY Patil showed them their might by notching up 528/9 in mere 69overs. Yogesh Takawale was the highest scorer for DY Patil hitting a superlative 140*off just 115balls smashing 9fours and 4sixes while also stitching a 222run stand with Sarvesh Damle. It was on the back of experienced Yogesh Takawale, DY Patil won the match by a big margin of 166runs while defending their massive total.
3rd-Ajinkya Patil-124 off 54 (RHB), Dreamz T20 Tournament ‘18
Played between Beranard Shipping and WNS at the MB Union Sports Ground, Bernard Shipping made WNS to bat first and opening the innings- Ajinkya smashed a superlative 124 off mere 54balls wherein no bowler was spared in his onslaught. Ajinkya set the ground on fire hitting 7sixes and 7boundaries to enthrall his team mates as well as the spectators with the fastest Dreamz T20 hundred of this season. Ajinkya smashed some really good cricketing shots and was impressive which pushed his team total to a massive 277/4 in 20overs. Eventually, WNS won the match by a big margin of 195runs in a T20 match which itself is a record and opener Ajinkya was declared ‘man of the match’ for his blazing knock of 124.
2nd– Nirav Bheda (RHB)-91* off 63balls, Gannon Dunkerley T20 Trophy ‘18
Played at the Brabourne Stadium, this knock by Nirav reminded us of Dhoni and Michael Bevan as they both were the original master of chases. Nirav just did a similar thing playing for Osians cc vs CCI in the Gannon Dunkerley Clash. Osian’s electing to bowl first restricted CCI to 142 and while chasing 143, Osians were struggling badly at 24/3 and 59/5 at one point until their talented middle order batsman Nirav Bheda came in and played a gem of a knock. Nirav went on to score a thumping 63ball 91* which included 9fours and a six to take his team towards the victory line from nowhere. It was a really hard fought knock wherein he ran for almost 60% of his runs single handedly steering Osians to a win. Nirav kept on frustrating the opposition bowlers as he just kept on taking those ones and twos not allowing the fielders or any bowlers to rest.
& Finally the No.1
1st-Suryakumar Yadav(RHB)- 90* off 42balls, In the Finals of Mumbai Premier League ‘18
The bigboy of Mumbai cricket and the most talented name doing the rounds-Suryakumar who bashed bravo recently playing for Mumbai Indians a few days ago did a similar thing and that too in the high pressure finals vs Shivaji Park Lions at the Wankhede Stadium.
Shivaji Park Lions decision to bowl first looked spot on at one point when Mumbai North East suffered a top order collapse struggling at 16/4 & 34/5 in a finals game. Most of the cricketing pundits had given up and put their bets on Shivaji Park Lions clinching an easy win but that was not the fact as captain Suryakumar Yadav who came at no.7 played a mesmerizing knock rescuing Mumbai North East from a low total. Surya went on to score a magnetizing 90* off mere 42deliveries smashing 7fours and 7sixes. Surya anchored the team like how usually Dhoni does down the order as he literally kept on smashing the bowlers out of the park without worrying much or taking any pressure on himself. Surya showcased how he can deliver under intense pressure games while also showed how powerful his reflexes are while he got fantastic support from Parikshit Valsangkar too who smashed a 49ball 59* assisting Surya in a match winning 84ball 148 run stand taking the team total to 182/5 in 20 overs.
Also the highlight of his blazing innings was the penultimate 20th over where he thrashed Roystan Dias for 24runs ending the innings in supreme style and domination!
It was on the back of his fantastic knock Mumbai North East won the finals by 3runs and skipper Surya who was declared ‘man of the match’ led from the front as a skipper.
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