Back were those days in the 90’s and the early 2000’s when teams like Australia and India were never afraid to face tough opponents. It was only because Australia had a strong batting line up which included the waugh brothers, ponting, hayden, langer & Gilchrist while India always had their fab four in Laxman, dravid, sachin & ganguly. It was a similar match between Modern Cricket club & Prime Group Cricket Club at Central Maidan in Thane. It was match where the batsman for Modern C.C did their job with ease and handed over their team a commendable win.
Prime Group C.C elected to bat first after winning the toss to put Modern C.C under pressure. It was a decent perfomance by Prime Group as they scored 168/10 in 30 overs which is somewhat defendable. Opener Nikhil Patil, Rohan Pawar & Bharat Meher were the only batsman who looked confident with their scores of 22. 39 & 22 respectively. Medium pacer Ahmer Karte & left-arm spinner Saif sheikh were the pick of the bowlers taking 3wkts each followed by 2wkts for Shreyas Hadkar.
Chasing 169, Modern Cricket Club won the match by 6wkts as right-handed Shubham Punyarthi & Om Jadhav sealed the match single handedly with their 100+ run partnership While Shubham scored a solid 71 off 74balls, left-handed Om jadhav scored an unbeaten 70* off just 92balls which handed over his team a finals victory.
Cricketgraph congratulates the young lad Shubham & Om as well as their whole team as they have a long way to go & keep continuing playing good brand of cricket.
It was an entertaining match between Alexion Business Service & BNP Paribas at the Navroz Azad Maidan in Mumbai. Team Alexion who have a good batting line up elected to bat first after winning the toss & make the most of the pitch conditions.
Openers Vinit Patil(26 off 28) & Dharmesh Shah (20 off 10) gave a decent start with their quick 20’s while Sunil Raheja was the 2nd highest scorer with a 31ball at 38 at no.3. However, it was their middle order batsman Altamash Ahmed who played a brilliant innings of 56 to steer his team total to 184/5 in 20 overs. Altamash scored 56 off just 35 balls at a strike rate of 160 & smashed 7fours in it. The lower middle order also contributed with their quick 10’s & 20”s which helped them post a healthy total on the board.
Chasing 185, BNP Paribas felt the pressure of chasing at over 9runs per over as they succumbed to the good bowling of Alexion as they managed to reach only 111/9 in 20overs. Meet Agarwal (22 off 20) at no.4 was the only one who managed to cross the 20run mark as the rest of the batsman crumbled. Every bowler contributed nicely while Rakesh Katkar (3/13 in 4 overs) & Himanshu Mod (2/19) were the pick of the bowlers.
Alexion Business Service won the match by 73runs & Altamash Ahmed was declared ‘man of the match’ while rakesh’s bowling was also noteworthy. Cricketgraph wishes them all the luck to continue playing good cricket for their coming matches in the future.
Yes we do agree by the fact that high scoring matches are interesting to watch as they include a lot of hitting & a high sense of adrenaline. But sometimes low scoring matches are also equally interesting when both the teams are losing wickets & holds our nerves till the end. One such low scoring match was between team CEX & Godrej Industries at Shivaji Park Gymkhana in Mumbai.
Winning the toss, CEX elected to bat first with an aim of making a big score. However, the pitch was tricky & was supporting the bowlers well. Eventually CEX managed to score not more than 104 with the loss of 8wkts in 20 overs. Yogesh & Satish were the pick of the bowlers with bowling figures of 2/17 & 2/11 respectively. No.4 batsman Zulkarnain was the only batsman who looked good for his 36 which helped his team cross the 100 run mark.
Chasing 104, everyone thought it would be a cakewalk for the Godrej batsman but howewer there was a change in the script & it actually turned out to be an entertaining low scoring match. Godrej were al-out for 101runs in 20 overs & Team CEX won a thrilling encounter by a mere margin of 3runs. Right-arm off spinner Nikhil Tanna bowled one of the most economical spells of the tournament as he gave only 7runs in 4overs along with 2wkts. It was a collectively good bowling perfomance with Nikhil leading from the front.
CEX won the match by 3 runs & Nikhil Tanna was adjudged ‘man of the match’. Cricketgraph congratulates Nikhil & the whole team for their commendable win & wishes them to continue their good form.
Just one match before the finals it was an important match between Omini global Sports Management vs Northern Marines at Navroz Azad Maidan in Mumbai. Northern Marine won the toss & elected to bat first as the wicket was favorable to post a big total on the board.
Batting first, Northern Marines were all out for 143/10 in 20 overs. The target of 143 is always a mixed bag which falls into neither of the categories of ‘easily chaseable’ or ‘a big total’ Opener Swapnil Dalvi was the pick of the batsman scoring a fearless half-century(51) at the top of the order off just 39balls. Sumit at no.7 chipped in with 27 which took their total to cross 140+. Right-arm off-spinner Omkar Maldikar was the pick of the bowlers & was quite spot on as he took 3/16 in 4 overs which was quite an economical & a tight spell. Rupesh Popeta also took 3wkts but was on the expensive side as he conceded 46 runs in 4 overs.
Chasing 144, Omini Global chased it commendably as they won the match by 8wkts & 1.2overs to spare. Right-handed opener Shutanshu Khandekar was the leading scorer with 64. Shutanshu scored 64 off just 52balls (7fours) & made things easier for his team. All-rounder Omkar who had already impressed with the ball scored 38* off 39balls (3fours) to finish the chase.
It was a great match for Omini Global as they won comfortably. All-rounder Omkar Maldikar was declared ‘man of the match’ for his all-round contribution. It was also good to see Omkar who has scored over 150runs & 8wkts in the tournament stating that he shares his ‘man of the match award’ with Shutanshu who scored a brilliant 64 at the top of the order. Cricketgraph congratulates the whole team as well as these two players & also wishes them luck for the all important finals.
Riding on the batting brilliance of Aditya Rawat, Boys Cricket Club Dombivali posted a challenging total of 221 in 45 overs against Singhania School in the final match of Kalyan Premiere League that was played last week. The opening bat muscled 93 off 91 balls smacking the Singhania bowlers all around the park. Rawat received god support from Soham Rane who chipped in with a useful 36 lower down the order to take Boys Cricket Club to a respectable total. Aarush Patankar was the pick of the bowlers for Singhania striking 3-39 in his nine overs.
In reply, Singhania was bundled out for 187 in 40.5 overs, thus losing the final by 34 runs. Sohan Talekar was the star performer with the ball, scalping 4-21 in his seven overs. Talekar was lethal with the ball and did not allow the batsmen to settle in and score freely off him. Opening bat Jay Dhatrak played a splendid innings of 83 (97) but his efforts went in vain as he failed to find an able ally to take his team home.
Aditya Rawat of Boys Cricket Club Dombivali won the Man of the Match for his -.
Chandrakant Patil Cricket Club(CPCC) & Raheja Sports Club faced each other for a crucial encounter at Aarey Bhaskar Ground, Goregaon East in Mumbai. Raheja who have a good line-up of bowlers elected to bowl first after winning the toss to put CPCC under pressure by restricting them to a modest total.
However, it was a decent perfomance by CPCC as they managed to score 132/5 in 15 overs. Opener Dhaval Razda scored a solid 67 off 51 balls which steadied the ship for CPCC. The rest of the batsman could not convert their starts but they eventually managed to reach a competitive total of 132 in 15 overs. The bowlers did a decent job with skipper Ganesh Gore being the pick of the bowlers with 2/20 in 2 overs.
Chasing 133, right-handed opener Ashish Srivastav proved to be a dangerous storm for the opposition as he scored a scintillating 81 off just 47 balls. Ashish dominated the bowlers smartly and dealt most of his runs in boundaries as he smashed as many as 15 boundaries in his 47ball stay at the crease.
Raheja chased the score in 13.4 overs and won the match by 6wkts. Opener Vikas & no.3 Ravichandran were out for a duck but it was Ashish Srivastav who remained unbeaten till the end & was declared ‘man of the match’ for that superb perfomance. Looking at the current form of Ashish & his whole team, they will certainly be a tough nut to crack in the coming matches of the tournament.
Some players are born to play smart cricket like Michael Hussey, some are born to play simple cricket like Dravid, some are born to play defensive cricket like Marvan Attapatu and some are just born to entertain like Maxwell, Warner Sehwag or Afridi. Mangesh Palav fell into that last slot of Maxwell & Warner against SS Travels as he scored a scintillating knock against them at New Hind Sports Club, Mumbai.
Everest Developers elected to bat first after winning the toss. The openers failed to give a flying start but it was a solid knock of 44(29balls) from Baldev Maheshwari. What followed was left-handed Mangesh Palav who came in at no.4 & completely changed the script of the game with his domination. Mangesh did not spare a single bowler as he smashed as many as 7 sixes & 7 boundaries in his 29ball 80. Had Mangesh faced a few more deliveries he could have surely reached one of the fastest local centuries in the recent times. It was his knock which pushed the team’s total to 190/10 in 17 overs.
Chasing 191, SS Travels managed to reach only 166/6 in 18 overs & Everest Developers won the match by 24 runs. Gaurav & Baldev were the pick of the bowlers as they scalped 3 & 2 wickets respectively.
Everest Developers won the match & Mangesh Palav was declared ‘man of the match’ for his blazing knock at the top of the order. Cricketgraph congratulates the whole team as well as Mangesh & wishes him to continue his good form till the end of the tournament.
It was a match which witnessed what batsman can do on a good day. It was a match which included full entertainment and power hitting for the spectators. Goregaon Sports Club & Seven Hills faced each other for a crucial encounter at Aarey Bhaskar Ground at Goregaon East, Mumbai. Winning the toss, GSC elected to bat first as the wicket was favorable towards the batsman.
Right-handed opener Kishore Hande started attacking from the word ‘go’ as this was a do or die match for them. As Kishore shared with Cricketgraph ‘It was important for them to win the game to survive in the tournament & their captain advised him to play their natural game’. Opening the innings, Kishore smashed 79 runs off just 39 balls at a strike rate of almost above 200 which included 11 fours & 3 sixes. It was also a blazing knock from their no.4 batsman Ulhas Manjrekar who was equally destructive with the bat scoring 60* off just 30 balls. Manoj Biwalkar also remained unbeaten on 28* off just 10balls which pushed their team total to a humungous 222/4 in 15 overs.
Chasing 223 in 15 overs, Seven Hills did gave a tough fight but it was just not enough when you have to chase the score at more than 15runs per over. Seven Hills managed to reach 139/5 in 15 overs & one should not neglect the efforts of Deepak Nikam who scored a fighting knock of 83 off just 39balls(10 fours, 3sixes) though it went for a losing cause. Rahul Gangurde & Vishal Pendulkar were the pick of the bowlers with 2wkts each.
The Fort Vijay ground witnessed a wonderful perfomance by WNS boys as two powerful teams clashed for an exciting encounter. Winning the toss, WNS did the smart thing of bowling first as the wicket was good to bowl plus they had a good bowling line-up to put team Mahindra under pressure.
The decision was spot on as MMFSL were bundled out for just 69 runs in 19.2 overs. The start itself was good for WNS as both the openers of Mahindra were out for a duck. In a score of 69, Sumit & Rohan were the only players with leading scores of 17 & 17 respectively. It was a collectively good perfomance by all the bowlers who consistently took wickets and also contained the batsman. Every bowler chipped in with a wicket or two while Rahul was the pick of the bowlers with bowling figures of 3/12 in 3 overs. Rahul who is a right-arm medium fast bowler proved to be quite effective in troubling the batsman.
Chasing 70 runs was a mere cakewalk for WNS as opener Dnyansagar Patil sealed the match single handedly with his 49* off just 28 balls. Patil started dominating the bowlers from the word ‘go’ which helped his team win the match by a clean margin of 10wkts & 10 overs to spare.
WNS earned a commendable win & Dnyansagar was declared ‘man of the match’ for his blazing batting at the top of the order. Cricketgraph congratulates Dnyansagar & the whole team & wishes them to continue their good form which will help them move ahead in the tournament.
The RTO ground at Azad Maidan witnessed an exciting encounter between Pidilite & Afternoon Dispatch Cricket Club (ADC) as both the teams entered the field with a zest to give their best. Winning the toss, ADC elected to bat first as the wickets was favorable towards the batsman.
Things took a complete U-turn as it was not the best day in the office for ADC. Batting first, ADC were all out for just 89 runs in 19 overs. Thanks to some wonderful bowling & a combined team perfomance which made things easier for Pidilite. Right-arm medium pacer Anthony Chettiar was the destroyer in chief as he scalped 4 wkts. Not only did he succeed in giving less runs but also kept on taking wickets which dented the confidence of Team ADC. The rest of the bowlers supported him well with Vikas & S.Singh taking 2 wkts each. While Vikas got rid of the openers, it was Anthony who cleaned up the lower order.
Chasing 90 runs, Pidilite won the match with ease as they won by 6wkts and12.1 overs to spare. Opener Sujit. D was the leading scorer with a solid 43 while the rest of the batsman chipped in as they finished the chase in just 7.5 overs with the loss of 4wkts.
Pidilite won the match & Anthony Chettiar was declared the ‘man of the match’ for his tight bowling spell. Cricketgraph congratulates the whole team for their win as well as Anthony & wishes him to continue troubling the batsman for a long long time.