It was Balmohan Vidyamandir Team’s day for sure putting excellent performance both with he bat as well as with the ball. Winning the toss first and electing to bat first, the coach and the team already had strategies in mind. Left Handed Opener Sanket Gawari was advised by his coach to stay at the crease for 45 overs and the boy exactly followed his coach’s advice with an unbeaten 106* not-out standing throughout the innings like a rock.
It was one of the most beautiful innings to see as Gaware not only managed to survive the entire 45 overs, his patience and persistence at the crease was also noteworthy as his coach himself applauded that fact. Such was his batting, Gaware instilled confidence in other batsman too helping Atharva and Mihir carve out crucial knocks of 44 and 34 respectively. Sanket was also instrumental in creating good partnerships with the batsman supporting his team to reach a total of 252 in 45 overs. Though Jash Dedhia took 4 wickets for Billabong but the damage was already inflicted.
Billabong started on a good note until off spinner Shreyash Pathak came in and disturbed the batsman with four wickets for 41 runs. Part time off spinner Yash Parab also chipped in with 3 wickets including a wicket where Gaware took a stunner of a catch dismissing Jash Dedhia which was the turning point of the match. Jash is a big player and can single handedly take away matches, quite evident from the fact that he scored 60 from a team’s total of 99 runs & also took 4 wickets.
It was a very important match for Balmohan to qualify to the next level of Harris Shield
Tournament and they righty came out with the perfect show. They have more tough matches to come & all they have in strategy is to again make a big score & put opposition under pressure!
Into the third round of Harris Shield, Anjuman Islam school faced with a shocker of a defeat getting knocked out in the league round itself. Anjuman winning the toss elected to bat first. VN Sule bowled with a lot of discipline and put great efforts to restrict a powerful line up of Anjuman Islam to just 195 in 45 overs.
Left armer Ayush Zimre yielded magic with the ball bowling almost half of the quota of 45 overs and picking up a record seven wickets. His 7/64 in 20 overs was a special effort and certainly dismantled the entire batting unit of Anjuman Islam.
Though not a small target but it was definitely chaseable & it became all the more chaseable because of a very very special knock coming from the bat of Vaibhav Kamble. His was a wonderful innings exuding poise and class along with lots of temperament. Though wickets were getting lost from the other side, Vaibhav was strong as a wall not allowing himself to get distracted! The match reached an exciting climax when six runs were needed of the last six balls and Yash Alvi came in with a match winning shot at the fag end when three runs were required from the last three balls hitting a fortunate shot above short third man
Considering a wonderful show put by VN Sule against a big team like Anjuman Islam, VN Sule is definitely a team not to be underestimated in the coming matches of Harris Shield Tournament.
Already getting the license to play their natural game from their skipper, Jai Gaba and his opening partner went for the kill right from the start of the innings against CEX. Winning the toss first, they wanted to post a good target as Jai mentioned and hence playing with composure as well as aggression was the need of the game. Quite evident from the fact that the openers amassed 75-80 runs in the first 10 overs itself.
Though it was a match without a powerplay making it a little difficult to score freely but Gaba took his chances to score and smash boundaries whenever it was required. His 29-ball 40 was quite influential torwads his team total reaching 145 in 20 overs.
It helped his side to put a good show with the ball too restricting the opposition to 115 & winning the match by 30 runs. Man of the match Jai Gaba whose only regret was giving away his wicket on a slow bouncer has stated he will look to smash such balls for a six the next time & will also see to correct his mistakes which he did in his last innings.
Jai also stated that he and his team are practicing hard to improve their game as more tough matches are about to come. Considering the dedication Jai is putting, Gaba will surely be one of the openers to look out for in the tournament.
The Dreamz T-20 Corporate Trophy 2016-17 Pre-quarter final Match Between Reliance Capital VS E.Clerk. Reliance Capital did the smart thing putting E.Clerk to bat first since they had a good bowling line up. The smart move certainly worked in their favor as E.Clerk could manage only 106 runs as Reliance were quite effective and tight in their bowling. Also kudos to off-spinner Rahul Jadhav who took four wickets for his side. Rahul got adequate support from all the bowlers including from man of the match Bharat Singh who picked up a wicket too.
It was already planned by the Reliance Capital team & their skipper that they will bowl well and restrict E.Clerk to a low total around 100 since they have a good bowling attack. The team succeeded on their plans and it was now the batsman’s turn to play their role & Bharat Singh completely performed that role with perfection apart from taking a wicket with the ball too.
Bharat though an attacking batsman kept his nerves at the crease & played extremely practical cricket. Singh just believed that playing straight as much as possible and not playing reckless shots would help him & his side get a comfortable victory. Singh exactly did that and scored a valiant 52 ball 62 not out laced with 9 boundaries and a wonderful six towards the short end. Though he was a bit cautious against the spinners, but Singh mostly targeted the pace bowlers scoring maximum boundaries against them. Bharat also scored a lot of runs towards the leg side which also included some perfectly timed boundaries.
As Bharat Singh himself said ‘it was important to respect the good deliveries but at the same time punish the bad ones, while one specific medium pace bowler Ashish from the opposition was tough to decode though he was not fully utilized by his skipper”
Though Bharat has no specific plans for the coming matches, he just wishes to continue playing good cricket and put more hard work to improve his game & his team’s performance.
Winning the toss first, Thane D which is considered to be one of the stronger teams of the TASC Challengers T20 Cup tournament elected to bat first. They certainly had a surprise in the store as Vasai Team showed plenty of grit and courage with the ball bundling them out for just 110 in 14 overs. Apart from Mangesh Nalavade, Santosh Bhatgunikar and Bharat Gawande none of the batsman of Thane D crossed the two figure mark because of the tight bowling displayed by the opposition. Also one of the added reasons was that wicket was flat and the pitch was not the best for batting either.
While Anish Kalwar took important breakthroughs scalping three wickets, he also got decent support from Giridhar Mhatre who took two important wickets. Both the bowlers did not allow any of the opposition batsman to settle!
While Chasing 111 is not a big deal in 20 overs but Thane D came back strong with the ball & also proved why they are considered strong contenders for the ongoing tournament. Thane D bowlers gave a fitting reply with the ball restricting the Vasai Team to 109 all out in 16 overs and winning the match by one run. It was a close match and a neck to neck competition displayed by both the teams. It was Thane D’s speedster Viral Rathod with the ball who snatched four wickets with his in-swingers to dismantle the Vasai batting line up.
It was a wonderful show by both the teams and luckily Thane D won the match by one run. Considering the tough fight displayed by both the teams, more exciting competitions can be expected in the coming matches of the tournament.
As usual Kaustub took the guard at the crease in the all important semi final match against the hosts Mumbai Police team. Opponent Team wanted to get KP out early and Santosh Shinde greeted him with a bouncer which was pulled for a four. This was the first ball and the intentions were expressed bluntly by KP. He meant business.
Chasing a stiff target of 283 it appeared as if KP wanted to score all the runs by himself, such was his hunger to score not only for himself but to ensure a berth in the finals. KP showed maturity in his innings by slowing down a little bit when he was on 80’s and 90”s because the ball was reverse swinging a lot but again started counter attacking the bowlers with a lot of confidence & grace.
Kaustub also had different plans for that day as he was not keen on running much! Pawar only dealt in boundaries and sixes which was refreshing and entertaining to see as a spectator. Kaustub’s unbeaten 156 ball 188 included as many as 28 boundaries and 7 huge sixes which meant over 75% of his runs he scored in boundaries stands quite a testimony to the fact that he was not keen on running much!
Kaustub who is generally a free flowing batsman and once on song can really score big runs at consistency. No doubt this knock helped his Karnataka side to reach finals with an easy win & Pawar should be a batsman to be worried for as far as opposition is concerned for the finals against MIG
Everyone at the ground saw a new Kaustub Pawar in this match, a batsman who clearly demonstrated his flexibility with all formats of the game.
TASC Challenger Cup which stands for “Thane Advocates Sports Club” is into its second year of this wonderful initiative of bringing practicing advocates to fulfill their hobby and passion towards cricket. In its second successful year, the Club has 16 teams participating this time as compared to the 12 teams who participated last year. It’s basically a Round Robbin format where in there are league matches where each team faces each other once i.e 3 teams per match, then quarters, semis and finals! The competition is conducted in T20 format.
According to the excerpts from Advocate Duduskar who is also the participating player in the Thane A team as well as the president of this club & committee, this tournament is not only to bring all the practicing advocates together but to also allow them to display their passion and hobby towards cricket & also promote the game of cricket amongst the advocates.
Teams like Alibaug, Panvel, Ulhasnagar, Kalyan, Vasai, Bhiwandi, Thane, New Bombay are amongst the 16 teams participating in this year’s edition. Advocate Duduskar also stated a fact that this tournament is basically a practice & breeding ground for all the players and participating teams to prepare themselves for the main and the ultimate big tournament called the Maharashtra Advocates Tournament which will be conducted in Pune this December 2016. As many as 105 teams will participate in that huge tournament from different corners of Maharashtra this year.
We also got to know that all the players of the Thane A team are also the committee members who manage & organize the entire tournament. While Mr Duduskar is the the president, Roshan Shetty is the treasurer of the Club. Also if any advocate or any team wants to participate, they must intimate the committee in advance on which the club can arrange to fit them and get a place for them in the tournament. It is also known through Mr Duduskar’s excerpts that Thane A & Legal Eagles are regarded as the strongest teams right now since they performed really well in the last year’s edition of the TASC Challenger Cup while Vasai & Alibaug are also considered to be strong contenders as they have good players in their arsenal.
As far as players are concerned, Batsman like Armaan Sheikh, Roshan Shetty and Manoj Sonavane, Tushar Shitori are players to look out for in TASC T20 Cup.
We wish the tournament ends on a very bright and a successful note & they also get a good amount of preparation for the big one- “The Maharashtra Advocates Tournament” which will be held next month in Pune!
Hrishikesh Panchal Under 12 Tournament held at Mulund Gymkhana ended on a positive note and with a lot of success. The tournament witnessed some amazing matches with great competitive spirit displayed by all the teams and their respective players.
A lot of positives came out from the tournament right from some great individual performances to some nail biting finishes & some great matches too. The kids displayed a lot of energy and focus towards the game & it was surely a great exposure for them to hone their skills.
Though all the teams were equally competitive which was really a good thing to see but in the end one team had to win & it was the supremely talented Sanjeevani Team from Bandra which took away the Hrishikesh Panchal Trophy after winning the finals. The series also helped us to spot wonderful talents like Roneet Thakkur, Aditya Parab, Manan Bhatt & Manav Khuman showing a lot of promise and talent at such a small age.
While Roneet Thakkur was the best batsman in the series amassing 178 runs in three matches & more than the runs he scored, it was the way he scored which is worth appreciating for a 12 year old. While on the other side Manav Khuman was highly effective with the ball picking up 7 wickets in the three matches. We also got to see a magical bowling spell from this talented lad called Aditya parab who also took a brilliant hat-trick to leave his mark in the tournament. While Manan Bhatt’s all round show throughout the series earned him the man of the series award scoring 106 runs as well as picking up 5 wickets in the tournament.
With so many positives & emerging talents coming out from this tournament which was organized for the first time, CricketGraph now wish that the next year’s edition will be double in terms of grandness and twice as successful than the first edition!
The Elf Oval Stadium witnessed a promising performance from this talented Player Rajesh Pingulkar on 12th of November against Rika Global. Representing JSW in the ongoing Masters Cup, Rajesh Pingulkar was the saving grace for JSW team as he helped his side reach a competitive total of 178/6 in 20 overs scoring an unbeaten 56* off 38 balls along with the able support of Chirag Kini & Rakesh Chaudhary down the order. When his side was in trouble at 100/5, Rajesh came in & threw his weight around showing patience & intelligence at the crease not allowing more wickets to lose & also rotating strike with Kini & Choudhary on a regular interval.
Not only did he kept calm initially & created good partnerships with the middle order batsman but also accelerated on time when it was required which helped his side reach a fighting total. What’s more when Rika Global was cruising towards a comfortable win with 70/2 in just 8 overs, Pingulkar came in & struck with two big blows reducing them to 77/4 in 10 overs.
Hence it was a superb all-round performance by Rajesh & it helped his side win a crucial match against Rika Global. Rajesh was no doubt adjudged man of the match for his heroics.