Played between Young Star CC and Friend Cricket Club at the Youth’s own Union ground, Young Star CC who have a talented bunch of players elected to bat first with an aim of making a big total to put the opposition under pressure.
Young Star CC batting first were off to a decent start on the back of their opener Rahul Bhat’s 44 but they did suffer some middle order jolts when they were 94/4 at one point. However, Sumedh Kamble who came at no.5 and Nitin Panale who came at no.6 smashed crucial fifties while also stitching a 108run stand which rescued their team from a low total. Sumedh scored 55 off 53balls (3fours) while Nitin scored 66 off 54balls smashing 4fours and 3sixes. Both the batsman looked really good smashing some regal shots eventually taking the team total to 256/all out in 43 overs. From Friends CC, Akshay Nangia was the pick of the bowler taking 3/49 while Sachin Patel also chipping in with 2wkts.
Defending 267, Friends CC were bundled out for 114runs as experienced left arm spinner Prakash Aswani came up with match winning bowling figures of 4/14 in 8.1overs(2maidens). Dhiraj also bowled well taking 2wkts while it was Prakash who showed his experience with the ball restricting Young Star CC to 114runs all-out.
Young Star CC won the match by 153runs and it was surely good batting by Rahul, Sumedh and Nitin while excellent bowling perfomance by Prakash Aswani.
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Friendship Cricket Club (FCC) is back again with its exciting Friendship Trophy that will be played from April 1 to April 29. This is it’s fourth year and the organizers will look to continue their success streak. A couple of members from the organising team; Ashish and Subramanian, have hands on experience of conducting such events.
The playing 10 teams will lock horns against each other in a round robin format. Only the top teams from each of the two groups will make it to the knockout stage. All the matches will be a 15 over affair, with only the knockouts being 20 over games. The rules and regulations of the tourney can be checked online. To energise and rejuvenate the players, FCC will provide energy drinks to the players right at the start of the game.
The participating teams in 2018 are: FCC Smashers (Last year winners), Datafriends (last year finalist), Mulund Excel, Reliance Friends club, Siemens Corporate, Warrior cricket club, SHM-Ulhasnagar, Cricket Club of Dombivli, India First Insurance and FCC Phantoms.
Any cricketing game without appreciation is incomplete. FCC has taken care of the cricket enthusiasts and there is a plethora of prizes to be won. There are many exciting prizes at stake. The winning team will be awarded a trophy and a cash prize of Rs. 12000. The runner up team will be bestowed with a trophy and cash prize of Rs. 7000, and the second runner up will receive a trophy and cash prize of Rs. 3000. Medals will be given to all finalists. In addition, every match will have a Man of the Match prize and there will be accolades for the Best Bowler, Best Batsman, and Man of the Series.
The solid team from the organizing committee are: Dr.Ashish Dhadas, Subramaniyan, Hiren Lakhmani, Prashant Nair and Vikrant Shinde.
Friendship Trophy 2018 is nothing less than an exciting rendezvous. Cricketgraph wishes all the very best to FCC and the participants.
Played at the Azad Maidan, it was a crucial clash between two promising teams namely Crescent Cricket Club and Navroz CC where in Navroz CC won the toss and elected to field first with an aim of restricting the opposition to a low total.
Crescent CC batting first managed to score a fairly decent total of 227/9 in 45overs. Left-handed opener Shreyas Pathak gave a good start opening the inning with a solid 44 while another talented southpaw Ryan Thomas played a brilliant innings of 90runs. Ryan who took only 93deliveries smashed 7fours and a six while also rotated the strike brilliantly engaging in good running between the wickets. It was on the back of promising Ryan, Crescent CC reached 227 as the rest of the batsman below him collapsed with directly no.10 Vishal Bhoir chipping in with 33*. From Navroz, Sandeep Badsiwal was the pick of the bowler taking 3/42 in 9overs.
Defending a moderate total of 227runs, Navroz cc were bundled out for 129/10 all out in 30.2overs with Hitesh Badgujar at no.8 top scoring with a valiant 46*. The bowlers did an excellent job and especially their off-spinner Sunil Punjabi who came up with excellent bowling figures of 4/21 in 6.2 overs. It was good to see 46yr old Sunil playing with excellent spirit and passion towards the game. He who bowled in the right areas which fetched excellent results while medium pacer Vinay Singh was also quite impressive taking 3/21 in 5overs.
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Played at the RTO Ground, Azad Maidan, Patan Cricket Club took on Canara Cricket Club where in Patan CC won the toss and elected to field first as the wicket has something for the bowlers to support and restrict the opposition to a low total.
Canara CC who were made to bat first scored 191/10 runs in 43.5 overs which is not the best of the team totals to defend. Despite opener Rajesh Vayal’s excellent start of 70runs in 83balls, the rest of the batsman collapsed as not a single batsman managed to even cross 20runs on the back of tight bowling by Patan bowlers. Medium pacer Vinit Mestry who is a batting all-rounder was the pick of the bowler taking 2/26 in 7 overs while Vishal and Prathamesh also chipping in with 2wkts.
Chasing 192, all-rounder Vinit also opened the innings and gave a thumping start scoring a 45ball 52. Aggressive Vinit smashed 11fours dealing mostly in boundaries to develop the positive momentum while chasing. The rest of the batsman chipped in with 10”s and 20”s along with Suraj jawle smashing 36 at no.5. Patan CC eventually crossed the target of 191 runs reaching 192/8 in 42.1 overs. Off-spinner Ganesh Masurkar gave a excellent fight with the ball taking 5/52 and now allowing Patan CC team to win the match easily.
It was a close match where both the teams gave a tough fight and Vinit stood out with his all-round perfomance while Ganesh Masurkar and Rajesh Vayal were equally impressive.
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There are players who keep on playing their normal game consistently without much extra-ordinariness in it or getting into limelight and then there are players who will rise up to the occasion and deliver it when its needed the most making them a bonafide star in their own right and Suryakumar is one of those players who has become the crisis man for any team he plays for. Surya who had a shaky start to Mumbai T20 ensured that he delivered like a boss when it was needed as he single handedly played a big role in the semi-finals and the finals with blazing knocks.
The all important finals between Mumbai North East Triumph Knights and Shivaji Park Lions was held at the Wankhede on 21st Match 2018 where in Shivaji Park Lions won the toss and elected to bowl first. Their decision to bowl first even 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 just like Dinesh Karthik came down the order a few days ago and played a stunning knock rescued 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 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.
Chasing 183 and that too against a quality bowling attack in the finals of any tournament in a pressure situation is always difficult but Shivaji Park Lions who were off to a shaky start after their openers fell early gave a brilliant fightback making the match interesting till the very last ball. Bravish, Alpesh, Hardik and Shivam who all have hitting capabilities gave their best with their quick 30’s and 40’s but eventually the match which lasted till the very last ball where in they fell short of 3runs with Shivaji Park Lions reaching 179/8 in 20 overs. Fast bowler Vaibhav Singh was the pick of the bowlers taking 3/38 in 4overs.
Mumbai North East Triumph Knights lift the trophy of JITO Mumbai T20 Premier League ’18 and it was certainly Surya who was the ‘man of the moment”
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Shivaji Park Lions and Sobo Supersonics took on each other for a crucial MPL clash at the Wankhede where in Shivaji Park won the toss and elected to field first as most of the teams who have bowled first have fetched good results at the Wankede stadium.
However, Sobo Supersonics batted well really well after being made to bat first as they notched up a more than healthy total of 194/7 in 20 overs. Opener Abhishek Nayar smashed a strokeful 51 giving a good start while the solid Aakarshit Gomel scored an equally aggressive 30ball 51 also engaging in 100run stand with Nayar for the 2nd wicket. The rest of the batsman chipped in with 10’s and 20’s taking the team total to 194. From the bowlers, Royston Dias with 2/35 was the pick of the bowler while the rest of the bowlers also came in handy with a wicket each.
Chasing 195 in a T20 game is always difficult no matter what the ground or the opposition is but Shivaji Park Lions did a commendable job of chasing it down successfully in just 17.5 overs. Shivaji Park were off to a decent start by opener Paul Valthaty(41 off 29) and Bravish Shetty (34 off 17) who came at no.3. With the 2nd wicket falling for 89runs in mere 8.4 overs, the stage was all set for the talented Alpesh Ramjani to showcase his batting skills as he literally carried on the positive momentum smashing an unbeaten 34ball 64* which included 5 fours and 5sixes at a strike rate of almost 190 to seal the chase for his team. Alpesh who has been a promising run scorer at the local level made full use of the opportunity as he plonked the bowlers with his brutal batting. Hardik Tamore gave a helping hand to Alpesh scoring an 18ball 32 as Shivaji Park Lions finished of the chase in mere 17.5 overs with the loss of just 4wkts.
Shivaji Park Lions won the match by 6wkts in a stylish manner and it was surely Alpesh’s batting which played a big role in this win.
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Played at the Brabourne Stadium vs Cricket Club of India on their own turf, it’s not the easiest of tasks to defeat teams on their homegrounds and Osians Cricket Club which is also an equally powerful and promising team both at the club as well as the professional level were up for an interesting competition.
Osian’s CC who won the toss elected to bowl first since the wicket looked good to bowl first while they also have a decent batting line up to chase down the score. CCI managed to score only 142/10 in 20 overs and that was also because of their opener T Patni who scored an anchoring knock of 62runs off 51balls. T Patni who smashed 8fours while did good running between the wickets lacked support from the other end as wickets were continuously falling from the other end. The bowlers did a nice job of restricting the batsman with Aditya Singh taking 3/29 in 4overs while V Shah and J Thakker taking 2wkts each.
Chasing 143 is 8 out of 10times achievable in T20’s but 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 ton 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 two’s not allowing the fielders or any bowlers to rest.
Eventually Nirav chased down the score single handedly reminding us of Dhoni & Kohli where in Osian’s crossed the victory line in 19.2 overs and won the match by 3wkts.
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Played at the National CC, Cross maidan, it was the all important match between Brothers Cricket Club and Young Association Cricket Club wherein Young Assn. CC won the toss and elected to bat first with an aim of making a healthy 1st innings target to defend.
Batting first, Young Association CC made a decent total of 214/10 in 37.4 overs which is a defendable score. Had they batted the full quota of their overs they may have crossed 250-260 runs which could have been an excellent total. From Young Assn. CC, three batsman chipped in with 30’s but overall no one could convert their good starts with Tarun Jadhav top scoring with 39 down the order while Sunny Gupta and Haresh Dodia scoring 38 each. From the bowlers, Akash Suryavanshi was the pick of the bowler taking 3/42 in 6overs while Aniket, Ratnadeep and Rushi taking 2wkts each.
Defending a moderate total of 215, all-rounder Sunny Gupta who was the 2nd highest scorer with 38runs bamboozled the batsman with his superb display of spin bowling. Sunny Gupta came up with astonishing bowling figures of 5/10 in 5 overs with 3maidens. It was a match winning bowling spell by Sunny which reduced Brothers CC to just 43runs all out in 14.4 overs. The rest of the bowlers also bowled well not allowing the batsman to settle while chipping in with wickets too.
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Played at the Jivdani Maidan in Mumbai, it was a crucial clash between WNS and Viva Super Markets where in Viva Supermarkets won the toss and elected to bat first with an aim of making a big 1st innings total to put the opposition under pressure.
Viva Supermarkets batting first were all out for 170runs as their decision to bat first proved to be a bit inaccurate. From Viva it was Umesh G at no.3 who top scored with a valiant 48. The rest of the batsman struggled as the bowlers were really tight with Ketan Desai being the pick of the bowlers taking 3/16 in 9 overs while Shivprakash chipping in with 2wkts.
Chasing 171, Viva Supermarkets did not allow WNS to win easily as the match remained interesting till the end. WNS did not win before Viva bowlers sent back their 9batsman back to pavilion despite a flying start provided by their openers Ajinkya and Dnyansagar Patil. While Ajinkya scored 48 off 61balls, Dnyansagar who has been in good form smashed yet another elegant 68 off 71deliveries. It was also in good spirits to see Shivam Kumar playing well despite going through an injury.
Eventually WNS crossed the victory line by mere one wicket on the back of solid opening start provided by their openers-Ajinkya and Dnyansagar Patil.
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Played at the National CC, Cross Maidan in Mumbai, Osians Cricket Club and General Mills took on each other where in Osians CC won the toss and elected to bat first with on the back of their strong batting line up.
It was a wisely calculated decision to bat first as Osians notched up a healthy total of 187/4 in 20 overs. Opening the innings, Vishal Shah and Ankit Zaveri gave a flying start where in Ankit scored a quick 44 while Vishal converted his good start into a brutal 92 coming of mere 58deliveries. Vishal Shah who smashed 11fours and 3sixes did not spare the loose balls hitting some exquisite boundaries while also did good running between the wickets. It was on the back of their good opening stand and Vishal’s anchoring knock Osians reached a very competitive total of 187 in 20 overs which is always defendable in a T20 match.
Defending 188, Osian’s bowlers did a great job in restricting General Mills India Pvt. Ltd to just 152/7 in 20overs. The bowlers did not allow the batsman to score runs freely while they kept on taking crucial breakthroughs. All the bowlers were commendable with Harsh D and Nikhil C being the pick of the lot taking 3 & 2wkts respectively.
Osians won the match by 35runs and it was surely on the back of Vishal’s thumping 92 which also earned him ‘man of the match’
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