“Mumbai ka accurate bowler” contest organized by NATARAJ PENS in collaboration with Cricketgraph will be conducted on Saturday, February 3rd at Mulund’s PTs Cricket Academy. The competition has already garnered tremendous response at the Kharghar, Kandivali, Bhayendar and Kalyan Chapters for the coveted title of Mumbai’s accurate bowler.
DATE: 3rd February 2018, Saturday
Venue: PTs Cricket Academy, Ground opposite D’Mart, Next to Fortis Hospital, Mulund West, Mumbai.
Reporting Time: 9:00 AM
On the spot Registrations Closes at : 9: 30 AM
One of the chapter contest will be conducted in Mulund’s PTs Cricket Academy. Unequivocally the atmosphere is going to be an electrifying one, courtesy the healthy participation of the young and budding cricketers of Mumbai.
Apart from this, the winner will be showered with cricket goodies from RM Sports and certificates.
RM Sports that has expertise in manufacturing and trading of cricket equipment, will be encouraging the winners with English willow cricket bats, cricket balls, cricket kit bags and many more cricket goodies. So, it is very much evident that there is everything for grabs for the players.
Played at the JBM School Noida, it was the all important clash between MCC and NDCC where in NDCC won the toss and elected to bat first with the back of their strong batting line up. Their aim was to make a big total and put the opposition under pressure.
Batting first and opening the innings, openers Saurabh and Tony gave a flying start with Saurabh scoring a quickfire 56 while Tony taking on the bowlers with an attacking 87 which set the tone for their innings. Both the openers dominated the bowlers with complete dominance as they took their team to a very competitive score of 202/6 in 20 overs. From MCC, Kunal with 3/28 was the pick of the bowlers.
Defending a total of 203 where MCC had to play at a run rate of almost 10+, MCC must have felt the pressure of chasing as they were skittled out by the NDCC bowlers for mere 42runs/all out. The bowler who inflicted the maximum damage was this wily left-arm spinner Dhruv Batra who came up stunning bowling figures of 5/4 in 2overs (1maiden). Piyush and Harry also took 2wkts each but it was Dhruv who mesmerized the opposition with amazing line, length and accuracy. NDCC won the match by 160runs & Dhruv Batra was declared ‘man of the match’ for his 5wkt haul.
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With 482runs in 3zonal matches so far at an average of 120.50 in 5innings, Vedant has proved that he is one of the most dependable and prolific openers to come out from Mumbai cricket from his age group. The amount of consistency, patience and calm which he has displayed is quite commendable for his age and even in the recent match vs Gujarat, he brought his team back into the game from nowhere.
Mumbai who won the toss elected to field first restricted Gujarat to 190runs all out on the back of tight bowling perfomance. Middle order bat Omkar Solanki top scored with 60 while Aman Tiwari from Mumbai turned out to be the most impressive of the lot scalping 5/33 in 17 overs(5maidens). Mumbai were surprisingly bundled out for 161runs where the entire batting line up crumbled apart from their opener Vedant who kept his calm to score a fluent 85 off 156balls (13fours). Vedant once again looked rock solid top scoring the innings along with Jay Dhatrak who also chipped in with 49. From Gujarat, Krish Gupta and Rohan Patel took 3wkts each.
However, Mumbai gave a strong comeback with the ball as they bundled out Gujarat for mere 105runs/all out in the 2nd innings where in Ayush Jethwa and Aayush Mishra took 3wkts each. Chasing a total of 135 for the 2nd innings, Vedant once again anchored the innings and steadied the ship with his back to back fifty as he remained unbeaten on 79* off 86balls (10fours) while his opening partner Raj Desmukh also scored a solid 53 off 128balls to steer Mumbai to a thriller of a win by 9wkts.
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Played at the United Cricket Club, Cross Maidan, it was the match between two promising teams namely VK Krishna Menon Academy and Titans Cricket Academy where in VKMA won the toss and elected to bat first as the wicket looked good to bat on.
Batting first, VKMA notched up an impressive total of 172/3 in 22overs where in opener Ayush Vartak anchored the innings till the very end. Ayush scored an impressive 90* off mere 68 deliveries which included only 7fours. Ayush did excellent running between the wickets and rotated the strike quite efficiently in his hard working knock. The rest of the batsman played around him giving him support with 10’s and 20’s.
Chasing 173, VKMA successfully defended their total as they restricted Titans Cricket Academy to just 148/7 in 22 overs where in despite the openers giving a good start, the rest of the batsman could not capitalize it properly. Sahil Purohit and Sumit Mishra took 2wkts each as they steered their team to a win by 24runs. It was a good win for VKMA where in man of the match Ayush was certainly impressive with his crafty unbeaten 90*- a perfomance which stood out in the match.
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You don’t get to see this everyday. Pro cricketers practicing with tennis ball and a stump.
As per coach Umesh Patwal9 from ithinksportz.
Use of stump is essential for still head. Tennis ball helps in focusing more on the process then result.
After a over-whelming response from the earlier chapters at Kharghar and Kandivali, Our next destination was in the remote corners of Bhayander surpassing the small bylanes. ‘NATARAJ’ pens & Cricketgraph team in literal sense is scouting for a talent hunt from every corner of Mumbai. The Bhayander Chapter was conducted at the popular RISING STAR ACADEMY which is headed by Nandu Jadhav sir who is the head coach of the academy.
It was simply spellbinding to see boys throng up to the destination. There was one player called Komal Singh who had a hairline injury but still after not making it to the 3rd round of the Kandivali Chapter, he came on the same day to Bhayendar to give his best. What’s more his dedication and passion paid off as this time he qualified to the finale round of the Bhayander Chapter where he was eventually felicitated with NATARAJ & CRICKETGRAPH certificate along with NATARAJ goodies. There was also one humble local boy (spinner) who came in his shorts without proper cricketing attire. No one was expecting him to be a tough fight but he turned out to be the most competitive underdog as he was right there till the finals giving everyone a run for their money. There was also this one talented boy who was handpicked by Umesh Patwal sir for 1year free coaching at the Kandivali Chapter coming here too to again give his best to win the competition.
However, the boy who won the hearts of everyone was this talented Rohan Kataia from Father Joesph High School who stood out from hundreds of participants. Rohan smashed the stumps in all the 3rounds while he also smashed the single timber in the finals too with mind boggling accuracy. Despite being so young, the amount of patience under pressure, resilience, calmness along with line & length at which he was bowling was commendable. Rohan won the tie-breaker round in the finals which was really tough for any bowler. Rohan was eventually gifted a wonderful large SG KIT BAG, a certificate from ‘NATARAJ’ pens and Cricketgraph along with ‘NATARAJ PENS’ hamper. It was good to see young energetic and genuinely cricket loving boys coming from different corners to participate under hot sunlight at afternoon and it just shows how much a cricket loving nation India is all about!
Played between Godrej Staff and Mukand Sports Club at the Dombivali Gymkhana, it was the all important semi-finals between these two teams where in Mukand Sports won the toss and elected to bat first in order to put the opposition under pressure.
Mukand SC batting first were all out for 160runs in 30.2 overs which is definitely not the best of the scores to defend. Even though hardly any batsmen converted their starts with their top order getting out quickly. It was their middle order bats Jay (36) and Mayank Dixit (40) who contributed with a crucial stand which saved them from an embarrassingly low total. Medium pacer Civek Singh with 3/26 was the pick of the bowlers while the rest of the bowlers also bowled really tight hardly allowing the batsman to score freely.
With an excellent fightback by Mukand SC, Godrej Staff were struggling at one point with 8wkts down for 95runs while chasing but it was their skipper Santosh Bandarkar who rose to the occasion as he scored a match winning 53* off 50balls to take his team to a thriller of a win. Santosh smashed boundaries while also co-ordinate well with the lower order showing his wit and experience on the field. Dhiraj Gavhane with 5/24 bowled an excellent spell but it was eventually Godrej’s skipper Santosh who sealed the finals spot for his team in the tournament.
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Played at the Police Gymkhana Ground at Marine Drive, it was a match between two promising teams of Mumbai namely Borivali Warriors and Chembur Strikers where in Borivali boys won the toss and elected to bat first with the back of their strong batting line up.
Opening the innings for Borivali Warriors, Shahen Mistry gave a flying start with his 27ball 64. Shaheen’s strike rate of 237 which included 8fours and 4biggies kept the bowler on toes while they did lose a few wickets in between. But at no.4 came all-rounder Lavesh Mehra who has developed a name for himself as one of the hard hitters and aggressive batsman in limited overs format. Lavesh steadied the ship again as he kept on playing his natural game smashing 68* off mere 33deliveries (8fours, 4sixes). This is not the 1st time Lavesh has proved to be a dangerous batsman as he keeps on repeating such entertaining knocks. With the back of these two batsman, Borivali Warriors reached a great total of 246/6 in 20 overs which is a great total to defend. From Chembur, Nliesh Mahadik and Neil Dhankani took 2wkts each.
Chasing a mammoth total of 247 in 120 balls, Borivali Warriors restricted Chembur Strikers to just 155/7 in 20 overs where in all-rounder Neil Dhankani saved the grace of his team by chipping in with an unbeaten 51*. Lavesh Mehra was the pick of the bowler too taking 2/19 in 4 overs while Rahul Bhadreshwara with 2/35 also did a good job. Borivali Warriors won the match by 93runs and Lavesh Mehra was declared ‘man of the match’.
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The man who has amassed centuries after centuries, the man who has amassed over 1500runs this season, yes Shashank Singh delivers once again with his trademark ton in a high pressure semi-finals of the Talim Shield Tournament 2018.
Played at the CCI ground, DY Patil won the toss and smartly elected to field first knowing that they have a strong batting to chase down any sort of scores. Cricket Club of India(CCI) batting first did a good job scoring 288/8 in 45 overs which is definitely not the lowest of scores to defend if not the highest. No.3 Vinit Indulkar smashed 48 but it was all-rounder Sujit Nayak who brought in his experience to play under pressure as he smashed an 81ball 92(8fours, 2sixes) to steer his team to a respectable total. Sujit played his natural game while Karan Nandey also looked good for his 43. Medium pacer Prashant Bhoir scalped 3wkts while Shashank also chipped in with some medium pace taking 2/45.
Chasing at more than 6runs per over is always a task but not when you have a batsman who is in a different zone altogether. Even though Shoaib and Aman fell early, two of the highest run getters in Mumbai cricket this season paired up to resurrect the innings. Shashank Singh (113 off 97balls) and Shubham Ranjane (57 off 50balls) stitched a crucial 113run stand and brought their team back into the game. Opener Shashank eventually went on to score another attacking hundred where in he smashed 7fours, 4sixes at strike rate of 116 to score his match winning 97ball 113. Sarvesh Damle (47*) and Arun Yadav (29*) finished up the remaining work left behind by these two with an unbeaten 90run stand which sealed their spot in the finals. It was a collectively great team perfomance where in Shashank once again stood out with his all-round heroics while Shubham and the rest of the boys did their job perfectly well too.
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