Another crucial final of a big tournament took place Junior Champions League (Boys under 12 Cricket Tournament) organised by N L Dalmia High School Northbrook and Mulund Gymkhana entered the ground to face each other in an all important final match of the tournament.
Winning the toss, Northbrook was off to a fantastic start with Owais Khan and Mohit Tanwar giving a great momentum. Both the openers stitched a match defining partnership which helped them post a good score. While Tanvar scored 43, it was Owais Khan who scored a classy 65 off just 63 balls. The opener smashed 6 fours & was always busy between the wickets keeping the scorecard ticking. Owais remained completely calm throughout his stay at the crease & hardly indulged in risky shots. It was because of some practical cricket by him, Northbrook reached 180/5 in 25 overs.
Chasing 181 in 25 overs, Mulund Gympkhana succumbed to the pressure of playing in the finals and chasing a big score. Mulund team was all out for 105 and Northbrook won the finals of the tournament by 75 runs. But that hardly takes away the fact that Mulund Gymkhana fought really hard and gave their best in fielding and bowling. It was particularly wonderful to see how Aryan down the order never gave up. Aryan scored 28 off just 21 balls & tried playing attacking shots till the last breath of the game. Northbrook bowlers bowled well to restrict them to just 105, Umar khan was the pick of the bowlers taking 2/18 in 5 overs.
With this win Northbrook won the finals and Owais khan was adjudged “man of the match” while Umar khan was the bowler of the match. Mulund Gymkhana was adjudged the runner up to the tournament.
Northbrook coach Abdul Ahad must be really proud to see his boys lift the trophy. Abdul sir’s hard work did fetch full justice as his boys won the tournament while Mulund Gymkhana coach Ajay kadam sir must be also elated to see his boys reaching so far in the tournament and giving a tough fight till the finals.
It was the all important final match between Nagpur and Pune B at the Nehru Stadium in Pune. After fighting hard throughout the tournament, it was time for both the teams to give their last but the best efforts to lift the prestigious Advocate league trophy.
Pune B had won the toss and elected to bat first, the openers gave away their wicket with Bharat Mizire out for a duck while Anand padke who could not convert his 23-ball 21 to a big score. Pune did had some soul down the order as Akshay Jadhav resurrected the Pune innings to some extent with an aggressive 46 off just 39 balls. He took away the positive momentum which Nagpur had developed for a while. Jadhav’s knock included 4 fours and he really worked hard between the wickets to take singles and twos. Amit Ganpule managed to give some support with his 20 ball 22. Pune B scored 131/6 in 20 overs due to some tight bowling by the opposition. Shahid syed was excellent with the ball giving away just 12 runs in 4 overs & also taking 2 wickets.
Chasing 131 was like a cakewalk for Nagpur but Pune B fought hard till the end & did not allow anybody to score freely. Quite evident from the fact that Pune lost the match by only 2 wickets. Nagpur won the match ending their score at 135/8. It was a nervous match which held our excitement till the end. Amit Ganpule (2/24), Milind Sanas (2/14) & Alok Zende (2/24) contributed well with the ball.
Nagpur defeated Pune in their own turf & lifted the trophy with pride. Shahid Syed was adjudged “man of the match” for his wonderful bowling where he contained the batsman and also took wickets.
It was a perfect final match to be witnessed at the Nehru stadium. This is a tournament where over 105 teams participate from different corners of Maharashtra to play. Advocates from every part of the Maharashtra gather through different teams to play cricket & compete in this exciting tournament. The tournament also witnessed wonderful individual performances right from Ashish Gawonde (383 runs in 8 matches) & Mohammad Fakih (334 runs in 7 matches) topping the batting charts. In the bowling department it was Sushen Barsikar(of Pune B) topping the charts with 23 wickets in 7 matches followed by Sudeep Jaiswal(Nagpur) with 20 wickets in the tournament,
The tournament was a wonderful success with each team giving their best, while Napur team lifted the trophy, Pune B was the runner up. We wish the tournament becomes an equal success when it is played again the next year.
It was the nervous and an exciting plate final match between Don Bosco vs Vibgyor high school of the Giles Shield tournament. While both the teams were equally competitive throughout the tournament it was Don Bosco who got the better of the opponents.
Don Bosco elected to bat first after winning the toss. They were off to a shaky start as the wickets kept on tumbling but Gaurang Bhogle showed immense class and maturity where he single handedly acted as a savior for his team. Gaurang played perfect cricketing shots which were pleasing to the eyes. Don Bosco were 195 all out, out of which 75 was scored by the right handed opener Gaurang. Bhogle’s fluent 75 came off just 125 balls which included 11 fours and a six. Gaurang also got able support from Vinit paralkar who scored a blazing 15 ball 32 to take the team total to a respectable one. Both the players engaged in a match winning 50+ partnership.
Trailing 195, Vibgyor could have capitalized since it wasn’t a huge trail but off-spinner Vinit Paralkar had some different plans in the store. Vinit literally bamboozled the Vibgyor batting line up with amazing bowling figures of 6/33 in 25 overs. Vibgyor high school was all out for just 66 because in the 1st innings because of the deadly bowling by Vinit Paralkar. Vibgyor were made to follow on & Vinit Paralkar was still not done yet as he again came with a bang with his deadly off-spinners picking up another 6/45 in the second inning handling his team a win by 8 runs and an innings. Vibgyor were all out for 121 in the 2nd innings and 66 in the 1st falling short of 8 runs to reach 195.
Vinit Paralkar was adjudged man of the match for his wonderful bowling which almost single handedly helped his side to win the match. Their coach Sunil Mehra who works hard for his boys must be feeling proud and happy to see them winning & playing so well. It was a good day for Don bosco and even the players and parents appreciated the coach’s hard work towards the boys. As coach Sunil mehra said “It was the focus and discipline which took them this far in the tournament”
Special thanks must also reach Nadeem Menon sir who gave a wonderful ground in this match & in fact throughout the tournament.
It was an exciting 22 overs per side match between Pravin Tambe Academy vs Boys Cricket Academy at Oval maidan. Boys academy won the toss and elected to bat first as they wanted to make a big score to keep Tambe academy under pressure.
They succeeded in their plans as Boys academy managed to post 182/2 in 22 overs. The batsman did their job perfectly & especially this 11 year old gifted talent called Aditya Rawat. Aditya who is just 11 years old looks far more matured and composed at the crease & he scored a splendid knock of 99 coming of just 66 balls against big bowlers of the opposition. Even BCA’s coach Mr. Rajan Dhotre has the same thing to say, that Aditya is a complete perfect batsman & seeing him play such good cricket at such a small age is always special. Aditya Rawat remained unbeaten on 99* on what could have been a fantastic and well deserved century. His knock was a perfect mixture of controlled aggression and classy shots which included 10 fours. Aditya pushed his team to a highly defendable total of 184/2 in 22 overs.
Chasing 185 at almost 9 runs per over, Pravin Tambe Academy succumbed to the pressure as well as good bowling by the opposition. Tambe Academy was all out for 103 in just 21 overs and handed over a victory by a margin of 83 runs to the Boys cricket academy. The bowlers did an excellent job & particularly leg spinner Mrunal Rane who bowled really well (3/21 in 5 overs). Talented Aditya Rawat was adjudged man of the match for his unbeaten heroics & he is certainly a bright prospect to look out for.
It was one of the finest encounters we could see between Riazi vs Gundecha. Any pure cricket lover would love this match as not only it was well fought by Gundecha against a strong team but we also got to see great individual performances.
Rizvi had won the toss and elected to bat first. At one point they were 133/4 & Gundecha were looking good. The bowlers leaked a lot of runs after the lunch session and there were also a lot of dropped catches too. Abhinav singh scored a magnificent double century to take his team to a big total. Vinod Mistry also played well for his 64 and so did the lower middle order where all chipped in with little cameos. However, the highlight of their innings was Abhinav as he scored 203 off just 183 balls. Singh was dropped a few times but he capitalized the opportunities to score big. His stroke filled 203 included 30 fours and 4 sixes which meant he was scoring boundaries at will. Rizvi eventually ended their innings at 472/8 declare. Bhavesh sachdev took 3/65 while rudra chipped in with two wickets. Om Vadher also bowled well on the 2nd day picking up 2/49 in 12.3 overs.
Gundecha started off well but the openers gave away their wickets & in came the new little master & the run machine of the season “Suryansh Shedge”. Suryansh who has had a wonderful season continues his golden patch with the bat with a back to back hundred & 3rd of this season. Suryansh who lacked support again from the other side stood like a rock. Suryansh who is aggressive by nature played patient cricket as he knew the game needs to be drawn. Right handed Shedge scored 195 off 183 (11 fours & 3 sixes) while Jai Kanodia’s strong unbeaten defence (7* off 36 balls) to draw the match reminded us of Dravid & Laxman.
Gundecha who fought really hard to survive and draw the match were unluckily all out just 2 overs before the end of the game at 321 (2nd day’s play). Rizvi bowlers did a really good job & Abhinav came all guns blazing with the ball too as he picked up 4/34 in 10.4 overs. Just 12 more balls faced and the match could have been drawn. But that does not take away the efforts put by the Gundecha boys who fought till the last ball. They gave their best & even a test match became exciting to watch.
Abhinav Singh was adjudged man of the match (203 and 4wickets) but such was their spirit and hard work on the crease, even the Rizvi coach and parents clapped & appreciated the tough fight given by the Gundecha team.
It was a crucial semi-final match between Dr.Antonio D’silva school vs St. Xaviers. The match witnessed some amazing moments & performances and it was a good day for the Antonio team as everything had gone in their favor.
After winning the toss, Antonio school decided to bat first as that was what their coach had advised. The team was off to a shaky start where they lost their first 4 wickets under quick succession but Xavier’s were unaware of what was kept in store for them. Two talented batsman stuck to the crease and played wonderful innings to take their team total to 277/5 in 40 overs. Right handed Om Kantak scored a magnificent hundred coming in at no.4. Om completely acted as a savior for his team when wickets were tumbling. His innings was full of patience and class which included 11 fours and a huge six. On the other side was Ved Kerkar whose batting style was complete contrast to Om’s. While Om was all patience and class in his 100* off 131 balls, Ved scored 88 off just 53 balls(17 fours) where he tore apart the bowlers at will. Ved was outright counter-attacking the bowlers and kept the momentum going along with Om. Both the players stitched a match winning partnership of 183 runs which took the game away from St. Xaviers.
Chasing 278 is not tough but it is not easy either & Xavier’s faced the same trickiness facing the Da Silva bowlers. St. Xaviers were all out for 131 in just 34.5 overs and handed over a big win of 143 runs to Dr. Antonio Da Silva school. Ronak waghe(42) was the only one who looked solid against the Antonio bowlers. Off spinner Raj bowler well for his 2/37 & so did Yadnesh jadhav with his 2/25. However, it was Soham nalavade who was pick of the bowlers picking up three wickets (out of which 2 were clean bowled) with his pace.
Om Kantak who scored a great century also followed it up with a wicket (1/24) which made him ‘man of the match” Both the kids look promising and it was a good team performance too which will give them a lot of confidence in the finals.
JSW took on Viacom in a semi final game at the Vengsarkar Academy, Oval on Christmas eve – this being the first trophy round game for either side this season. In slightly damp and dewy conditions, Sachin from Viacom called correctly at the toss and had no hesitation in asking JSW to bat first, hoping his bowlers could extract some advantage from the conditions which were expected to level out by 10:00 am once the sun was fully overhead.
However both the openers from JSW belied this expectation as they rattled up 46 runs in the first 4 overs before Tauseef Khan was caught at the wicket. That brought in the talented Rajesh Pingulkar and what followed was mayhem as 75 runs were scored in the next 5 overs of which Pingulkar hammered 53 (24b, 11×4, 1 x 6) before being dismissed on the last ball before the drinks interval with the score on 121 on the board. The right handed pingulkar was outright entertaining & only dealt in boundaries. At that stage JSW looked set for a score in excess of 250. However excellent bowling by Atul Singh who was the leading bowler for Viacom, helped restore some normalcy while on the other side the JSW batting lost its momentum a little bit – compared to the first 10 overs – finally being bowled out for a score of 203. The target was a mammoth one but Viacom could afford to pat themselves for still pulling back the game at a time when Pingulkar and team looked like batting them out of the tournament.
The chase started in real earnest with Amol and Roshan firing on all cylinders for Viacom. The 2 openers played slam bang cricket scoring at better than a run a ball to reach 36 in 4 overs before Amol mistimed and popped one right back to the bowler. The next 2 partnerships each tried to build on the momentum and kept the run-rate at a steady 8 per over – however the man of the moment was again Pingulkar who took out number 2 and number 3 to leave Viacom reeling at 91/3 in the 13th over. From there on the chase while statistically possible was always going to be a massive task for the remaining batting order. Nothing exemplified this more than the bowling of Ranjit Pillai who triggered a mini collapse with 5 wickets in just 3 overs bowling his gentle breaks which cleaned up the entire middle & lower order. This was also the first 5 wicket hall of the season for any bowler in the Master’s Cup series and would have won him the man of the match award but given Pingulkar’s performance earlier in the morning along with his 2 crucial wickets, the umpires adjudicated in his favor.
Right Arm spinner Ranjit Pillai was particularly quite effective with the ball & hardly allowed any batsman to settle at the crease. Ranjit Pillai also succeeded in containing the batsman which played a very big role in their team’s victory. Ranjit pillai who wasn’t adjudged “man of the match” but his performance was no less than that.
JSW now proceed to take on Johnson & Johnson in the finals – and on current form this looks to be an exciting encounter.
Into their league match of the DGRS cup, Goregaon sports club and Raheja sports club were into a crucial face off. It was important for Raheja to win this match while a win for GSC would mean 4 consecutive wins which will take them to the top of the table.
Goregaon sports club won the toss & elected to bat first which was what they were looking for. Openers Ankit & Kishore hande gave a solid start with a partnership of 60 runs in the first 8 overs. While Ankit was out for 16, Kishore hande continued playing good cricket as he went on to score 55 off just 42 balls. However, things took a huge turn for Raheja as skipper Manoj Biwalkar took the run rate to the roof scoring a destructive 33 ball 60. He also added another 60 runs with Kishore Hande. Right handed Manoj smashed in all parts of the ground & not a single bowler was spared in his innings which included 5 big sixes and 3 fours.
It was because of this onslaught by Manoj, GSC posted a target of 220/5 in 20 overs. Raheja needed 11 runs per over & it was going to be tough anyday. GSC bowlers did a great job as Raheja team was restricted to 158/7 in 20 overs. Manoj the skipper was not done yet as he effectively contributed with the ball too taking 3/32 with his medium pace.
Goregaon sports club won the match 62 runs and continued their winning streak with 4 consecutive wins. Manoj Biwalkar was adjudged man of the match for his all round performance. It was also in good spirits to see Raheja club captain Harshad hardikar handing over the “mom” trophy to Manoj. GSC’s next match will be again SKN sports club & Manoj will be a player to watch out for.
It was a hard fought quarter final match between New Hind Sports Club & Payyade in the Purshottam Shield Tournament. Payyade had elected to field first after winning the toss since they have a solid batting line up to chase the score.
Payyade had a target of restricting them around 300 & partially succeeded in achieving that. New Hind which is equally a strong team as payyade batted well and managed to score 319/10 in 68.3 overs. Sunil Chauri who was dropped earlier was the pick of the batsman with 118 followed by Akshay Jambhekar (49) and Bhavin Thakkar (33). The frontline payyade bowlers did their job as pacer Asif Attarwala and experienced spinner Pardeep Sahu both took two wickets. The bowling was effective but a target of above 300 is always tough to chase. Hence the pressure of chasing was visible on skipper Parag and his team.
Payyade effortlessly chased the target in just 66 overs with the help of Onkar Khanvilkar and Sarfaraz khan. While Onkar is a talented player, we all know about Sarfaraz too. He needs no introduction & in fact it was because of the strong batting line up (till no.9) Payyade took the decision of bowling first. Left-handed Onkar Khanvilkar scored a magnificent 131* (9 fours & 1 six) at almost a run a ball which was completely crucial for Payyade’s victory. Sarfaraz Khan also scored 85* off 76 balls which included some fantastic sweep shots. Both the players stitched a 150+ partnership which took the game in their favor & eventually steered the team to a cruising victory. Fours and sixes smashed by both these players were nothing short of class and grace & they hardly wasted their time in their stay at the crease. To some extent the opposition was under pressure as Sarfaraz was yet to come & he did what was expected from him. The India under 19 & RCB player Sarfaraz khan showed his mettle at the crease while chasing.
Onkar & Sarfaraz both together chased the score in just 66.3 overs and won the quarter final match by 5 wickets and 9 overs to spare. The icing on the cake was Onkar finishing off the match in style with a six to lead his team into the semi-finals. Their coach Umesh Patwal was not present for this match but he would be elated to see his team’s performance and progress.
It was a high scoring and a neck to neck encounter between Super kings and Royals in the KSG 40-40 tournament. Super kings had elected to field first after winning the toss to put the opposition under pressure since they had a strong batting line up.
Royals were off to a terrific start with the help of right handed opener Tarak (70 off 42) & Paresh Valia (33 off 48). Things were sailing smoothly for Royals as they managed to score 313/5 in 40 overs. Rippal Mehta scored an excellent hundred off just 67 balls to help royals make such a good target. Though all the bowlers leaked runs, it was their left arm pacer Viren Mehta who bowled well. The Super Kings skipper took 1/30 in 7 overs where he was the most economical of the lot.
Chasing 314 in 40 overs is not easy but Super Kings were equally off to a good start with their openers Chintan Kanakia and Digesh giving a solid start. Chintan was excellent in his shot selection and scored a valiant 87 (74 balls). However, it was the man of the hour Janak Doshi who played a gem of a knock to take his team to a great victory. Not only did Janak stitched a great partnership with opener Chintan (120 runs in 74 balls) but he also pushed his team to a victory with his 61 ball 96. Scoring at a strike rate of above 150, Janak did not spare any bowlers and scored in every part of the ground en-route his match saving 96 which included 15 fours and an effortless flick towards the leg side for a six.
Though Janak was dismissed on 96, he had already done the job for his team as they managed to reach 314/8 in just 37 overs. Janak fell just 4 runs short of what could have been a memorable century. He was adjudged man of the match & Janak and the whole team will move ahead in the tournament with a lot of positives.