Route Mobile which is already a very strong team at the corporate level recently added one more leaf to their cricketing journey as they played for the first time in the C Division of the much revered Times Cricket Shield Tournament 2018 against RCF at the National CC, Cross Maidan where in Route Mobile won the toss and elected to bat first.
Their decision to bat first seemed to be completely spot on as they made a huge total of 428/6 in 70 overs which is quite impressive for a debutant team in professional cricket. Solid opener Vishal Chitrikar smashed an elegant 106 off 136balls (15fours, 1six) which developed the positive momentum right from the start. Vishal played some really good cricketing shots while he also got good support from his opening partner Vishal Dhagaokar who scored 79 off 75balls(11 fours). That was not all as Saeed Shaikh who came at no.3 continued the positive momentum left behind by the openers as he top scored with an attacking 129 off 123balls(15fours, 1six) to completely change the game in his team’s favor. Saeed also did good running between the wickets while he also stitched a good partnership with the experienced Ajikya Belose who really looked good for his stroke filled 86. Left-arm spinner Suraj Patil with 3/62 was the pick of the bowlers along with 2wkts for medium pacer Jeevan Bhoir.
Chasing 429 is a big task and RCF must have felt the pressure of chasing as they were completely bundled out for just 58runs all out in 24.2overs. Quickster Siddarth Narsumayya came up with a stunning display of fast bowling as he bagged 6/13 in 9overs. Siddarth bowled in the right areas with impressive line & length which reaped rewards for him as well as his team. Route Mobile win their 1st match by a big margin of 370runs and what a way to start their journey while Saeed, Vishal, Siddarth literally stood out in the match.
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Cosmopolitan Shield Tournament witnesses a lot of players and teams who practice and fight hard to get results. It’s one of the top 10 Tournaments of Mumbai Local Cricket and reaching semis is surely commendable. It was the all important semi-finals between Navi Mumbai S.A and Gaud Saraswat CC at Western Railways ground where in Navi Mumbai won the toss and elected to field first.
Batting first, Gaud Saraswat were bundled out for just 130runs which is definitely not the best of the scores to defend and that too in the semi finals of any tournament. Ishan Wagh at the middle order top scored with 46while the rest of the batsman failed to convert their starts. Navi Mumbai bowled really tight with their 3 bowlers Vishal Wagh, Amit Wadkar and Ramchandra Pol bagging two wickets each.
However, Navi Mumbai could not replicate their good perfomance which they did with the ball while chasing as they were given a serious tough fight by the Gaud Saraswat bowlers. Defending a low total of 130, the pressure was always on the Gaud Sawaswat team but they successfully managed to restrict Navi Mumbai team to just 113runs. At one point Navi Mumbai were looking comfortable towards a win with 5wkts in hand and already 96runs on the board but eventually left-arm spinner Rahul Mishra with 4/27 along with Vishwajit (2/28) and Yashraj (2/18) made them all out for 113 runs in an intense competition. All the bowlers did a fabulous job and especially Rahul who gave crucial breakthroughs at the right time. Gaud Saraswat won the semis by just 17runs in a neck to neck match where both the teams fought hard while major credit must be given to the Gaud Saraswat bowlers starting from Rahul Mishra for this win.
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Late Manoramabai Apte Trophy
Played between two talented teams namely SVM international school and St.Joseph Convent High School, it was the all important finals after a lot of hardwork put by both the teams. With a strong batting line up, SVM international school, Dadar won the toss and elected to bat first with an aim of making a big 1st innings total and putting the opposition under pressure.
Their decision was completely spot on as both the openers of SVM- Aanchal Valanju & Vaibhavi Raje who are also part of the MCA’s Mumbai team stamped their class and authority all over. While right handed Aanchal Valanju completely decimitated the bowlers with her fearless batting, Vaibhavi’s played the supporting role to perfection. Aanchal looked so confident and aggressive that she reached her 100 in mere 46 deliveries while she stayed unbeaten on 113* off mere 52balls which included 21fours. Vaibhavi Raje on the other hand scored an unbeaten 59* off 41balls (7fours) playing the anchor’s role. On the back of these two players, SVM managed to reach a mammoth total of 208/0 in 15 overs where most of the bowlers went for a beating.
Defending such a big total, SVM already had the upper hand as the onus of chasing and the pressure was on St.joseph. St. Joseph maybe choked out in such a high pressure chase as they were bundled out for mere29runs in 10.5 overs. Quickster Akshi Gaurav’s 6/9 in 5.5 overs completely changed the game as she literally ran through the entire batting line up of St. Joseph with his tight bowling along with perfect line and length. SVM international were crowned the champions for the 2nd time as they won the match by 179runs.
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Played between R.V Nerkar and National High School at Vasai II, National school won the toss and elected to bat first as the wicket looked good to make a big total in the 1st innings and put the opposition under pressure to chase.
Batting first, their openers fell early without troubling much but the dependable Arpit Dhavde who is slowly slowly becoming a reliable no.3 and no.4 batsman tried getting the momentum back into his team’s favor with an aggressive 58 off just 32balls(6fours). Arpit not only smashed some good shots but also did good running between the wicket. Apart from Aatish Patil chipped in with 26 taking the team total to 140/8 in 35 overs which is definitely not the best of the totals to defend. Tanish Meher with 7/51 in 15 overs was simply brilliant with the ball as he successfully managed to trouble the batsman while also bowled in the right areas taking wickets at regular intervals.
Defending a modest total of 140, things were definitely not looking in the favor of National School but off-spinner Sharik Baloch once again fired when it was needed from him the most. Sharik returned with match winning bowling figures of 5/77 in 16overs which eventually restricted R.V Nerkar School to a 138. All-rounder Shravan Akolekar also did a good job taking 3/11 with the ball. It was a thriller of a chase defended by National School where in they won the match by just 2runs. It was a where both the teams gave their best and fought hard while Tanish, Arpit and Sharik stood out in the match with their impressive performances.
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Princely has been quite consistent as an all-rounder since the last few months and the young lad is surely looking promising enough to keep on progressing. This time Princely delivered when his team needed him the most as it was the all important quarter-finals of the tournament where if you lose, you are eliminated from the tournament.
Played between National English High School and St.Francis high school at Yashwant Nagar, St. Francis won the toss and elected to bat first in order to make a big total and put the opposition under pressure. However, it was the other way round as Princely troubled the batsman with accuracy and hardly allowed them to score runs. Medium pacer Princely came up with match winning bowling figures of 6/26 in 8overs which did the job for his team as St.Francis School were bundled out for mere 58runs in 17.2 overs. Princely bowled in the right areas with impressive line & length which reaped rewards for him as well as his team. Apart from him Parth Naik also took 2wkts.
Openers Shravan & Aditya finished the chase without any hassles in 12 overs as NES School won the quarter finals by 10wkts. It was a match dominated by National School right from the start where in Princely once again stood out with his brilliant contribution in the match.
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Since many years Singhania Trophy has become a budding platform for various schools to participate and express their cricketing stock of talent. Over the years the tournament has witnessed numerous exciting matches and brilliant individual performances. In fact the tournament has now become a breeding ground for young aspiring players who give their best to shine bright in the tournament.
Not only is this tournament a place where various schools and their young talented boys get an opportunity to explore their cricketing skills, tournaments like this also become a place where the raw skills and talent gets polished. Numerous players have been spotted and come out brightly from this tournament every year and that is what makes this tournament so special.
Balancing education with Sports is important and who better than Mrs. Revathi Srinivasan, Director of Education and also the principal of Smt. Sulochana Devi Singhania School who is a big reason for the success of this tournament. Her will to promote sports, her will to promote cricket and develop an ideal platform for all the young aspiring players has been commendable. She supports the cause in various ways and ensures that tournaments like this are conducted with accuracy & success. A decade ago, Singhania School had a distant relation with Cricket, it’s because of her continued support, Singhania School is now an active School when it comes to Mumbai Cricket. From nowhere, Singhania School’s team is now considered one of the strongest teams in Mumbai Cricket at the school level. Because of her, even Girl’s cricket has started in the school which is nothing but appreciation worthy.
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This boy Aryan never fails to surprise us, he also keeps on breaking barriers and raises bar every time he comes to the crease. Just fresh from an impressive 7/10 where we thought his bowling can’t get better than this, Aryan just came back with a shocker as he delivered with an exceptional perfomance vs St. Xaviers at the Raymond Cricket Ground.
S.C.A winning the toss elected to bat first as they have a good bowling attack to defend any score they make. SCA notched up a healthy total of 326/8 in 32.5 overs where in they got 41runs in penalty. Openers Rohit (44) and Tejas gave a flying start while Tejas continued his good start into yet another big ton scoring a really gritty 162 which included 16 fours and a six. Tejas does have a nice tendency to convert his starts into big scores which are promising signs as a batsman. From St. Xaviers, Omkar and Harshit were the pick of the bowlers picking up 2wkts each.
St. Xaviers in reply were skittled out for mere 27runs in 11.4overs where in left-arm spinner Aryan Dalal almost did a Kumble taking all the wickets in the innings! Aryan came up with astonishing bowling figures of 9/14 in 6.1overs (2maidens). What’s more that terrific bowling spell also included a hat-trick as he came up with his career best bowling figures so far. SCA won the match a big margin of 298runs and it was obviously Aryan with the ball & Tejas with the bat who stood out in the match.
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Played at the Sydenham College, Oval Maidan between SVIS Borivali and Abhinav Vidyamandir, Abhinav Vidyamandir won the toss and elected to field first with an aim of restricting SVIS to a low total and chase it down successfully.
Opening the innings, Saurabh and Malhar(38 off 33) gave a flying start while the aggressive Saurabh kept on counter attacking as he went on to score a electrifying knock of 154 coming off mere 97 deliveries. Not only did Saurabh smashed some elegant boundaries in his 20 fours which he smashed but he also indulged in good running between the wickets which kept the scoreboard ticking. Saurabh kept the bowlers on toes while Aryan Badhe at no.6 chipped in with a quick 75 off 47balls (13fours) taking the team total to a mammoth 427/6 in 45 overs. Bhavesh Patel leaked runs but came up with 3wkts from ABhinav Vidyamandir.
Abhinav School may have certainly felt the pressure of chasing as they managed to score only 137/9 in 37 overs. Bhavesh Patel who took 3wkts also scored a solid 52 while Aayush Karwal chipped in with 45. Aryan Badhe was the pick of the bowlers with 2/10 while Om Sawant and Siddhesh Jadhav took 2wkts each. SVIS Borivali won the match by 290runs & it was surely Saurabh whose attacking batting remained the highlight perfomance of the match.
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While Gomel over the last 2-3 years has developed a solid reputation of a dependable opener, Bravish on the other hand has also looked terrific with the bat with his consistent batting in every tournament he has played over the last 2-3 seasons. In the recent match vs Fort Vijay at the Parsee Gymkhana ground, these two once again stamped their authority all over.
Fort Vijay who won the toss and elected to field first on the back of their promising bowling line up. Parsee Gymkhana hardly looked bothered as they went on to amass a big total of 433/8 in 45overs. While Bravish made sure that he came and attacked every bowler and the loose balls out of the park as he scored 118 off mere 77balls (12fours, 6sixes) while Gomel on the other hand played a perfect anchor staying unbeaten till the end with a solid yet aggressive 153* off 118balls (14fours, 3sixes). Both the openers also stitched a 195run stand which developed a positive momentum for Parsee Gymhana to score 433/8. Experienced Suryakumar Yadav also contributed well with a 70 coming off mere 36balls at a strike rate of almost 200 alarming the IPL owners!
Fort Vijay CC in reply were bundled out for mere 144runs in 22.4overs where in middle order bat Sanket Bhaye scored 50 off 32balls. Right arm leg spinner Raunaq Sharma bowled a tremendous spell of 5/20 which was nothing short of match winning for Parsee Gymkhana. Raunaq bowled at amazing line and length which reaped results for him as well as his team. Parsee Gymkhana won the match by 289runs and openers Bravish and Akarshit stood out with the bat while Raunaq was exceptional with the ball.
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Shamit is no doubt turning out to be one of the most reliable and dependable spinners in the Mumbai circuit as he has been highly consistent over the past 1year or so. Shetty has delivered most of the times his team needed something from him just like his recent 5wkt haul vs Union Bank of India SC which was played at the Dadar Parsee Colony, Matunga.
After winning the toss, B.Arun Kumar SC elected to bowl first and their decision was spot on as they skittled out UBI SC to mere 121runs where in Arjun top scored with 27 while opener Amol Panchal top scored with 26. The bowler who decimitated the entire batting line up was their experienced left arm spinner Shamit Shetty as he came up with match winning bowling figures of 5/24 in 8.1overs(1maiden). Shamit bowled in the right areas and used his experience wisely as he hardly allowed any batsman to score runs freely. Sandesh Sawant with 3/43 also looked quite impressive.
B.Arun Kumar Sports Club chased down the score comfortably as they won the match by 7wkts. Opener Suraj Singh anchored the chase with his unbeaten 55* off 57balls as the match got over in mere 20.5 overs. It was a good win for B.ArunKumar boys as they dominated the match right from the start with Shamit standing out with his impressive bowling once again.
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