It has just been two days that we are into the much awaited Telecom Premiere League (TPL) and it has already witnessed some spectacular performances. The eight teams that are divided into two groups; A and B have played two matches each and have created a buzz in the city. The telecom giants that are fighting for the coveted TPL are: Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, Idea A, Idea B, Tata Docomo, G&D, Reliance Jio and IBM. The current table toppers are Idea in Group A and Bharti Airtel from Group B, winning two out of two matches.
The batsmen, the bowlers and the fielders are striving hard to put their best foot forward. The spirit of cricket is at the highest level, and the players are going all out to sink in the happiness of playing this sport. Rushi Patel of Idea is leading with 73 runs from 2 matches at a healthy average of 73, followed by his team-mate Vikas Sharma who is just behind by 2 runs with 71 runs from 2 matches. Abhishek from Vodafone and Subrata Mukherjee from TTSL are not too far away with 70 and 63 runs respectively.
Nowadays cricket is not just about ones and twos, with players like Virat Kohli and AB Devilliers using the long handle, the batsmen in TPL deriving inspiration from these legends, are not afraid to hit the big shots. Rushi Patel (Idea A) has hit a maximum of six sixes in 2 matches, Abhishek (Vodafone) and Mayank Shirke (Bharti Airtel)have four to their names. When it comes to boundaries, Vikas Sharma (Idea A) is leading the pack with nine boundaries, followed by Subrata Mukherjee (TTSL), Abhishek (Vodafone), Abhishek Kaushik (IBM) and Mehul Kamath (IBM) with four boundaries each.
The competition is neck-to-neck among the bowlers, with Shamim Dicholkar (IBM), Mangesh Gharat (Reliance Jio), Rushi Patel (Idea A), Pradeep Jha (TTSL) and Manish Karande (TTSL) stationed at four wickets apiece. It is going to be a tough fight and only time will tell who stands tall to become the leading wicket-taker of the tournament.
Having the best batsmen and best bowler is every captain’s wish, but if he is supported by an electrifying fielder that is the cherry on the cake. Reliance Jio is blessed to have the services of Kamalakar Chavan who is the best fielder with 3 catches.
After looking at individual performances, let us see how teams have fared so far. Vodafone has the highest score of 163-3 against TTSL, whereas Reliance Jio has the lowest total of 71-6 against Bhati Airtel. In the span of two days, there have been some thrilling contests, one of them was between Reliance Jio and IBM, where the former won by four runs. We also had a couple of comprehensive wins; Vodafone thrashing TTSL by 77 runs and Bharti Airtel getting the better of Idea B in a one-sided 10-wicket win.
Let us fasten our seat belts to enjoy the exciting journey of TPL in the coming weekends.
Click here to Check all the scores and stats of Telecom Premier League 2016 …
In today’s age, when the telecom companies are fiercely competing with each other to become the no.1 in the market, Mr. Ashutosh of OneWorldCorp came up with something that will give these telecom giants another excuse to get the better of each other. The Telecom Premiere League will be a T10 format, with eight teams competing to win the inaugural championship. While talking to cricketgraph.com, Ashutosh mentioned, “There are cricket competition organized for different fields like banking and financial services, IT, Architecture, but there was nothing for telecom companies.” These telecom giants who work day in and day out to keep us connected with our friends and families definitely deserve some attention on the extra-curricular front.
“The main aim is that the players should forget everything and just sink in the joy of playing the sport”, exclaimed Ashutosh. There are two big sponsors for the event; IBM and Giesecke and Devrient. Cricketgraph.com interacted with Sachin from Giesecke and Devrient, who seems to be very excited for the tournament commencing from Saturday, 28th May. “There are some attractive prizes for the winner, runner-up, maximum sixes and fours, just to name a few”, averred Sachin. He has experience behind his back for organizing a sport event as he had managed a football match sometime back. “If we can have a football match, why not go for cricket, that is played so widely everywhere in this country”, thought Sachin. The matches will be played on Vengsarkar Cricket Academy ground and Air India ground.
Food accompanied with good looking coloured jerseys will add colour to the tournament. “It is going to be an exciting event, with the introduction of power over, which means the runs scored in the power over will be doubled and added to the score”, added Sachin.
Many people are looking forward to this tournament. Cricketgraph.com wishes all the very best to Ashutosh and Sachin and ofcourse to all the players playing in the tournament. Let’s us hope that this event is a grand success and pray for many such activities in future.
Click here to Check all the scores and stats of Telecom Premier League 2016 …
It was an easy win for Akumentis Healthcare in the Platinum final of Chanawala Challenger T20 Trophy that was played on 28th May in Mumbai when they faced World Sports Event Management. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, World Sports posted a modest 113-5 in 16 overs. Though the openers Harshad (24 runs off 18 balls) and Asgar (38 runs off 34 balls) provided a solid start to their team, the middle order failed to click, reducing their team’s total to an ordinary 113. Aditya Nikam was the pick of the bowlers for Akumentis picking up 3-18 in his economical four overs spell. Nikam bowled consistently in the right areas and was duly rewarded for his effort.
In reply, Akumentis chased down the target easily in just 10.1 overs, winning the match by nine wickets. It was a comprehensive win for Akumentis. Opening bat Aditya Nikam remained unbetan on 76 off just 37 cherries, smacking 13 boundaries and a six in his match winning knock. Aditya’s blitzkrieg was a delight to watch as he single handedly won the game for his team. Neil Crasto was the lone wicket-taker for World Sports.
Chandrashekhar Karmalkar’s splendid coaching ability bore fruits when his team Akumentis Healthcare thrashed World Sports Event Management to win the Platinum final of Chanawala Challenger T20 Trophy.
Aditya Nikam (3-18 in 4 overs and 76 not out off 37 balls) was declared as the Man of the Match for his fantastic all-round efforts.
It was a low scoring game played at Prabhu Jolly ground, Mumbai on 28th May between Abbott Healthcare and HUS Films Pvt Ltd during the Silver final of Chanawala Challenger T20 Tournament. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Abbott posted a humble 122-7 in 20 overs, with opening bat Ajit Sonawane top scoring with 35 runs off 25 balls, hitting six boundaries. Sonawane provided a steady start to him team and partnered well with Ishan (29 runs off 29 balls). Irfan, Majid and Hitesh picked up two wickets each.
Though 123 runs did not seem to be a daunting target, HUS made a mess of the run chase as they were restricted to 107-9, fallings short of just 15 runs. Irfan Ansari was the best batsman for HUS scoring a patient 29 off 36 balls. Sandesh Agre was the pick of the bowlers picking up 3-16 in his four overs. Ajit Sonawane who had played a pivotal role with the willow chipped in with 1-12 in his two overs.
Chandrashekhar Karmalkar, who has been a resourceful coach to Abbott Healthcare would be more than happy with his team’s solid performance under pressure in the final of Chanawala Challenger T20 Tournament.
Ajit Sonawane (35 runs off 25 balls and 1-12 in 2 overs) was honoured with the Man of the Match award for his all-round performance.
It was a good contest between Omni Marines and Suburban Tigers who faced each other on 21st May in Mumbai during the Chanawala Challenger T20 match. Batting first, Omni Marines posted a challenging 170-5 in 20 overs, thanks to a wonderful knock by Akash Patil at the top of the innings. Patil played well for his 66 off 54 balls and was a delight to watch. Hrishikesh Puranik was the pick of the bowlers picking up 2-33 in his four overs.
In reply, Suburban Tigers came hard at Omni Marines and chased down the target in 19 overs, winning the match by four wickets. Opening bat Saurabh Gaikwad cruised to a blistering 66 off 48 balls, smacking seven boundaries and a six in his entertaining knock. The southpaw shouldered the responsibility well providing a solid start to the run chase. Jeet Jadhav was the best bowler for Omni Marines accounting for 2-32 in his four overs.
Saurabh Gaikwad (66 runs off 48 balls) was declared as the Man of the Match for his brilliant batting.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Reliance was all out for a modest 158 in 39 overs against Automotive in the semi-final of Dreamz 40-over Cricket Tournament on 22nd May at RBI ground, Mumbai. Comin lower down the order, Omkar top scored with 37 runs off 48 balls and was the lone fighter for Reliance. Chetan Jaiswal was responsible for Reliance’s collapse as he ran through their batting line up like a puff of dust. Chetan picked up 4-11 in his miserly spell of four overs. He was right on the money from the start, allowing no room to the batsmen to free their arms. Jayesh grabbed 3-23 in his eight overs.
Though Automotive did not get off to the best of starts, the middle order shouldered the responsibility well to see their team home. Dipesh (46 runs off 41 balls) and Chetan (55 runs off 40 balls) rescued their team from trouble and played well together to build a match winning partnership. Chetan had a wonderful day at office, as he contributed with both, bat and ball.
Automotive chased down the target in just 26.2 overs, winning the match by four wickets. Chetan Jaiswal (4-11 in 4 overs and 55 runs off 40 balls) was announced as the Man of the Match for his splendid all-round efforts.
Learning Mate had a fantastic outing with the bat on 21st May when they played against Radio Mirchi at Cross Maidan during the Milan Mega Corporate T20 match. Batting first, Learning Mate posted a mammoth 201-5 in 20 overs. The top and middle order contributed equally helping their team to put up a huge score on board. Hanize top scored with 43 runs off 26 balls and partnered well with Mahesh (41 runs off 43 balls). Milind Sawant (27 runs off 19 balls) and Swapnil (34 not out off 16 balls) played wonderful cameos at the end to take their team past 200. Sadik picked up 2-40 in his four overs.
It was a disappointing batting performance from Radio Mirchi as they were bundled out for 111 in 15.5 overs, falling shy of 90 runs. Milind Sawant who had earlier played his part with the bat, was the wrecker-in-chief accounting for 4-15 in his economical four over spell. Sawant bowled consistently and was duly rewarded for his efforts. Arpan chipped in with 3-17 in his three overs and bowled well in tandem with Milind.
Milind Sawant (27 runs off 19 balls and 4-15 in 4 overs) was awarded with the Man of the Match prize for his match winning performance.
Batting first, Automotive posted a challenging 162-9 in 20 overs against Lintas on 21st May at Karnataka Cricket Club during the Milan Mega Corporate T20 match. Riding on Chetan Jaiswal’s (58 not out off 31 balls) fantastic batting performance, Automotive could put up a good score on board. Coming lower down the order Chetan played some wonderful cricketing shots and was a delight to watch. Jai Kirtikudkar was the pick of the bowlers picking up 3-23 in four overs.
In reply, Lintas was done and dusted for 114 in 19.5 overs, losing the match by 48 runs. Nakul Kulkarni top scored with run a ball 40 runs but his efforts went in vain as rest of the team failed to click as a unit. The man who had shined with the bat, came in handy with the ball as Chetan Jaiswal grabbed 5-26 in 3.5 overs. He was the wrecker-in-chief as he ran through the Lintas line-up in no time.
Chetan Jaiswal (58 not out off 31 balls and 5-26 in 3.5 overs) was declared as the Man of the Match for his brilliant all-round efforts.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Orange posted a mammoth 191-8 in 20 overs against Global Connect on 21st May at Karnataka Cricket Club during the Milan Mega Corporate T20 Tournament. Openers Akhtar Shaikh (60 runs off 28 balls) and Nishant Kashikar (43 runs off 30 balls) provided a great start to Orange. The opening partnership was instrumental in helping Orange put up a big score on board. Akhtar looked in good touch and played some effortless shots. Smacking eight boundaries and two maximums, he was a delight to watch. Off break bowler Prashant Yadav was spectacular with the ball picking up 5-24 in his four overs.
In reply, it was a disappointing performance with the bat by Global Connect as they were all out for 111 in 17.5 overs, falling short of 80 runs. Middle order bat Latif Bhagwan top scored with 27 runs off 22 balls. Nitin Deshmukh and Rishi Mapra bowled well in tandem to pick up three wickets each.
Akhtar Shaikh (60 runs off 28 balls) was declared as the Man of the Match for his fantastic batting.
It was quite a one sided affair when Indusind Bank locked horns against DSP Blackrock on 21st May in Mumbai during the Plate Group semi-final match of Woods T20 Bowled Out Corporate Cricket Cup. Batting first, DSP could manage a paltry 82 and were done and dusted in 17.2 overs. Indusind bowled well as a unit, with four out of the five bowlers picking up two wickets each. Siddharth was the most economical in the lot giving away just 11 runs in three overs.
It was an easy chase for Indusind, with opening bat Jai scoring more than half of the runs. He scored a blistering 46 off 25 balls and was pivotal in his team’s success. He played some good looking cricketing shots and was a treat to watch. Indusind chased down the target in 8.2 overs, winning the match comprehensively by seven wickets. Rakesh, Bhavesh and Sunil chipped in one wicket each.
Jai (46 runs off 25 balls) was awarded with the Man of the Match prize for his brilliant batting performance.