World Sports Academy posted a decent 145-7 in their full quota of 20 overs against Abbott on 13th Feb in Mumbai in the on-going Shiraz-e-Hind tournament match, courtesy a brilliant batting performance from the opening batsman Bhushan (44 runs off 33 balls). Vihang’s (26 runs off 17 balls) small little cameo at the end helped his team cross the 140-run mark. Sandesh was the pick of the bowlers picking up 2-18 in his four overs.
Chasing 146 runs was tricky as the target was neither too big nor too small. Abbott played well but fell short of seven runs as they were restricted to 138-9 in 20 overs. Shankaran (34) and Rakesh (27) contributed with the bat but failed to achieve the target. After shinning with the bat, Bhushan rolled his arm over, grabbing 4-21 in his four overs.
Bhushan was deservingly awarded with the Man of the Match prize for his amazing all-round performance (44 runs and 4-21 in 4 overs).
Kaustubh Pawar and Amit Nair of Tata Capital were at their supreme best when they rattled the GEP batting order, restricting them to a chaseable 129-9 in 20 overs, at Cross Maidan, Mumbai, on 13th Feb during the Mega Corporate T20 League. Both these bowlers grabbed three wickets apiece and received good support from the fielders who seized the opportunities as and when they were created. The GEP batting was not a rosy picture, with only two batsmen crossing the 20-run mark. Opening bat Tejal Talaka (29) found an able ally in Swapnil Kaushik (24), however they failed to capitalize from their solid starts.
It was a simple chase for Tata Capital, with the opening batsman Kaustubh Pawar single handedly winning the match for his team. Pawar scored a fantastic 74 off just 45 balls and saw his team home, remaining unbeaten at the end of the innings. Tata Capital chased down the target in 14.3 overs, keeping seven wickets in hand.
Kaustubh Pawar of Tata Capital was declared as the Man of the Match for his outstanding all-round performance (74 not out and 3-15 in 4 overs).
Akash Patil’s heroics against Cricket Addicts helped Omni Marines put up a handsome total of 190-3 in 20 overs in Shiraz-e-Hind tournament match on 13th Feb. Not only in Mumbai, but also in the United Kingdom, Akash has made a mark in the cricketing circuit. The southpaw plays for Middlesex country team and is based out of UK for a good four months (May-September) in a year. He already has eight fifties to his name, all coming in the last season in the UK. Scoring big runs seems to be like a habit for Akash as he did that against Cricket Addicts as well. “I enjoyed batting against Cricket Addicts as the ball was coming nicely onto the bat. I played a lot of cover drives throughout my innings”, averred Patil. There was nothing to cheer about for Cricket Addicts’ bowlers as the Omni Marines batsmen smacked them all-round the park.
In reply, Cricket Addicts were restricted to 173-8 in 20 overs, falling short of 17 runs, courtesy some brilliant bowling from Omni Marines’ bowlers. Omkar was the pick of the bowlers as he finished off with 2-24 in his four overs. Top order bat Parag was the highest scorer with 33 runs, however he failed to make it big.
Akash Patil, who put his team ahead of his century, was declared as the Man of the Match for his outstanding innings of 96 runs which came off just 62 balls.
Ajinkya Jadhav of IES Raja Shivaji Vidyalaya bowled a magical spell at Azad Maidan on 16th Feb against CJ High School in the Giles Shield Tournament match that was played between the two teams. It was something unreal that we saw at Azad Maidan as Ajinkya finished off with brilliant figures of 7-17 in his 12 overs, including five maiden overs. Single handedly he rattled the CJ high School batting line up and bundled them out for a paltry 57 in 24.2 overs. Rudraj Bagwe picked up the remaining three wickets. There was not much in CJ High School’s batting innings. Opener Dhawal Verma top scored with 18 runs.
It was a cake walk for Raja Shivaji Vidyalaya as they chased down the target in 18.1 overs, keeping seven wickets in hand. Nisar Mulani remained unbeaten on 27 and saw his team through. Shivam Yadav picked up 2-18 in his six overs, but there was nothing much he could do as he had very few runs to play with.
Ajinkya Jadhav was declared as the Man of the Match for his mind-blowing bowling performance of 7-17 in 12 overs.
Digimo XI had a terrible day on field when they were rattled out for a dismal 77 in just 14.2 overs against CMI on 13th Feb at United Cricketers Plot 08, Mumbai in the Mega Corporate T20 League match. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Digimo failed to post a decent total on board, courtesy Manish Kini’s five wicket haul, which included a hat-trick as well. Manish was high on confidence and that was reflected in his bowling. He finished off with the envious figures of 5-11 in his three overs. Vinay was the highest run getter for Digimo with 22 runs off 13 balls, lower down the order.
CMI chased down the target easily in just 8.3 overs, keeping six wickets in hand. Opening pair of Anup (13) and Yatin (26) provided a solid start to their team and there was no looking back since then. Dinesh batted through and remained unbeaten on 21 runs off just 13 balls and shouldered the responsibility of taking his team home. Hemant shined with the ball as he picked up 2-19 in his two overs.
Manish Kini was honoured with the Man of the Match award for his fantastic bowling figures of 5-11 in three overs.
Suraj Sharma’s blitzkrieg at Yashwant Nagar ground, Mumbai on 14th Feb, for Ontrack against TASC in the on-going T20 Friends Premiere League (FPL) was a treat to the eyes. Suraj remained unbeaten on 117 off just 44 balls, hitting nine boundaries and seven maximums. He was the star performer and left TASC bowlers awestruck. Opening bat Sanath Patel contributed with a quick 77 off mere 48 deliveries. Both these batsmen thrashed the TASC bowlers all-round the park. Ontrack scored 257-2 in 20 overs. Ganesh Keluskar picked up 4-40 in his three overs and Bapu Agre 2-42 in his three overs
Chasing a daunting target of 258 runs was always going to be tough. Apart from Parag Pokale (30) and Tushar Shilotri (24), none of the TASC batsmen got off to a start. TASC was restricted for a paltry 87-7 in 13.5 overs, losing the match by a mammoth margin of 170 runs. Kuntesh Desai, Rahul Kharitkar and Anil Yadav picked up two wickets apiece, not allowing the TASC batsmen to settle in.
Suraj Sharma was declared as the Man of the Match for his blistering knock of 117 runs which came off mere 44 balls.
Riding on Faizan’s half century, JLT posted a defendable 119 runs on board in 20 overs against Yes Bank on 13th Feb at National Cricket Club ground, Mumbai in the on-going Dreamz T20 tournament. Faizan who scored a quick 64 off just 50 balls anchored the JLT innings well, helping his team cross the 100-run mark. Siddhesh was the pick of the bowlers for Yes Bank as he finished off with the figures of 2-18 in his four overs.
Yes Bank had a bad day at work when JLT skittled it out for a dismal 99 in 16.4 overs, courtesy Nikhil, Rudolf and Pritish brilliant bowling in tandem. They rattled the Yes Bank batting order as they grabbed two wickets apiece. Opening bat Yogesh top scored with 20 runs but that was not just good enough to take his team home.
Faizan was declared as the Man of the Match for his match winning knock of 64 runs which came in 50 deliveries.
Smashtrees Champions League kicked off on a thumping note when Aarish Zadi (108 runs off 100 balls) of Baba Tiles hit a magnificent century in the match against Subhaniya on 15th Feb at Smashtrees Ground, Delhi. Opening the innings for his team, Aarish played some good positive cricket and took on the Subhaniya bowlers right from the word go. He found an able ally in Sarthak Rajan (44), who stitched a beautiful 103-run partnership with Aarish. Baba Tiles put on board 228-5 in 35 overs. Sahaa John, though expensive was the pick of the bowlers as he picked up 2-47 in his seven overs.
Subhaniya started off well, however could not capitalize on it. Skipper Sohrabh scored 48 runs off 42 balls but failed to take him team home. Subhaniya was bundled for 214 in 33.2 overs, thus losing the match by 14 runs. Vikram and Navandhu grabbed couple of wickets apiece, not allowing the Subhaniya batsmen to run away with the game. Aarish who shined with the bat, picked up one wicket as well.
Aarish Zadi was declared as the Man of the Match for his all-round performance (108 runs and 1-19).
FSS XI was bundled out for a paltry 137 in 20 overs against Deutsche Bank on 13th Feb at M.B. Union ground, Mumbai in the final match of The Dreamz Corporate T20 tournament. Coming down at number 8, Ravi Lakka’s batting brilliance helped FSS cross the 100-run mark. Ravi scored a quick 40 off just 25 balls, bringing smiles in FSS’s dug out. Rahul Jain of Deutsche Bank was good with the ball as he finished off with the figures of 3-24 in his four overs.
On any other day, chasing 138 in 20 overs would be an ordinary task. But when it comes to the final match, it is the nerves that need to be tamed. FSS held on to its nerves as they just restricted Deutsche Bank to 134 runs, thus winning the nail biting contest by three runs. Nikhil Vanekar’s (54) half century went in vain as Omkar Pandeshwar rattled the Deutsche Bank batting line up, picking 4-24 in four overs.
Omkar Pandeshwar was bestowed with the Man of the Match award for his splendid bowling efforts.
Abhishek Jhunjhunwala top scored for Viraat against HMV Sports at Smashtrees ground, Delhi on 13th Feb in the on-going T20 Corporate Cricket League. Winning the toss and electing to bowl first HMV restricted Viraat to 151 in 20 overs. Anurag was the pick of the bowlers, grabbing 2-25 in four overs.
A blistering knock from Rahul (65 runs off 33 balls) put HMV in driver’s seat. They chased down the target in just 16.2 overs. Rahul’s unbeaten knock was the stand-out performance of the day. He was at his very best and received good bit of support from Vibhor (39) and Pradeep (23).
Rahul was awarded with the Man of the Match trophy for his match winning knock of 65 runs which came in just 33 deliveries.