The temperatures in the capital city of the country are soaring high and so is the cricket fever. On 24th May, Sunday, in one of the best grounds in Delhi, DDA Sports Complex Pitampura, we will witness the final of Synergy Sports T20 Blast 2nd edition. Two of the best teams in the tournament, Fledge Cricket Club and Rubixis Technologies will lock horns to determine whether Fledge will defend their title or the tournament will have a new winner this time around.
The 2nd edition of the tournament was played between 10 teams divided into 2 groups of 5 each. After several weeks of excellent cricket played between the teams, we have our two finalists.
On one hand, Fledge Cricket Club are a well-established team in Delhi Cricket circles. They have some really good players in their squad that makes them such a strong side. Two of their batsmen Neeraj Sehgal and Saurabh Balwani have hit centuries in the current edition of the tournament. In the first match of the tournament against RBS Rockers, they batted out the opposition by scoring 238 and set the tone of the match and the tournament. No wonder they are in the finals and a step away from grabbing yet another title.
Skipper Manik says, “It feels great to be in the finals yet again. Synergy Sports are the best organizers in Delhi and we feel proud to be associated with them. Both teams are undefeated till the finals and have good players to turn the game single handed. We need to play as per our strength and May the better team win on the day. We are looking forward to bring home the second edition too. My best wishes to all the players playing tomorrow.”
Their opponents, Rubixis Technologies are tough nuts to crack too. Playing for the second time in the tournament, Rubixis also won all their matches on their route to the final. They won against MAGS, Martini Boys, Predators and Golden Gladiators in the group stage. They won the semi-final against RBS (Himanshu).
Skipper Pankaj says, “We played in first edition of Synergy. It turned out to be a very cool tournament and we enjoyed very much. Also the ground at Pitampura is phenomenal. We play to enjoy ourselves and for fitness. We can’t really devise any strategy for the final as we haven’t played much against each other but we will go out there, give our best and hope for the best.”
It is really difficult to predict who has an upper hand in the final but Fledge Cricket Club being the defending champions hold a slight edge over their opponents. Rubixis on the other hand have nothing to lose and can go out all guns blazing. This is what makes this Synergy T20 Blast final a much anticipated final to watch.
Keep following Cricket Graph for the final match report.
Article by:
Sumanyu Jain
Regional Manager & Editor @CricketGraph
Following are the results of DDCA league matches during the week:
1. Rajnigandha Cricket Club defeats DDA
2. Ekta Club defeats KN Colts
3. KishanGanj Colts defeats York Club
4. RP Academy defeats Subhaniya Club
5. Rehman Club Defeats Essex Club
Keep following CricketGraph for further updates on Local Cricket activities around the city.
Following are the fixtures of the weekend in Mumbai Corporate Cricket Tournaments:
1. Final, Milan Corporate League T20 Champions Division: Kotak Mahindra Bank vs Mihir Trading @LIC Plot 4 Cross Maidan
2. Final, Milan Memorial League 40 overs Plate Division: CapGemini vs Abbott Healthcare @Parsee Cyclist, Azad Maidan
3. Semi-final, County Premier League 2015: Multiscreen Media (Sony) vs Wadhawan Holding @Mahim Juvenile, Shivaji Park, Dadar
Keep following CricketGraph for exclusive coverage and match reports of the above matches.
In the league match of 2nd Hazaarilal Dhaka Memorial Under 13 Cricket tournament, Surinder Khanna Academy defeated Mayank Cricket Academy by 32 runs.
The chief architect of the victory was Man of the Match Shubham Saini who hit a sparkling 90 and was well supported by Sameer Chaudhary who contributed with 47. Due to their efforts Surinder Khanna Academy scored 180 runs for the loss of 6 wickets, batting first.
Bowlers responded well to their batsmen efforts as they restricted the opposition to just 148 runs for the loss of 7 wickets. Aditya Yadav and Kamal Bairva captured 3 wickets each to help their team win by a margin of 32 runs.
Keep following Cricket Graph for latest updates on local cricket activities around the city.
Following are the upcoming matches for the week in various tournament in Delhi:
- Final: 1st Khemchand Mathur Under-17 Cricket Tournament
- Semi-finals: 3rd Khushiyal Pal Memorial Under-16 Cup
- SI League Matches
- League Matches: 10th Shalimar Under-19 Cricket Tournament
Keep following CricketGraph for updates on Local Cricket around the city.
Riding on Samarth Seth’s quick fire 91 (59 balls, 10×4, 1×6), Maulana Azad Club won the 4th KC Sharma Memorial Under-19 Cricket Tournament by defeating Madras Club by 3 wickets in the final.
Batting first, Madras Club scored 250. Vaibhav Kandpal scored a brilliant 127 for his team. Maulana Azad’s bowlers Gaurav Chaudhary (3/52) and Lakshaye Sharma (2/43) did some good work for their team.
But Samarth’s explosive innings took the match away from the opposition as they chased down the target in just 33 overs. Samarth could not complete his century but was instrumental in his team’s title win.
Keep following Cricket Graph for exclusive coverage of local cricket tournaments in the city.
Venue: Young Mohamedan Cricket Ground | Match Scorecard | Tournament Details Riding on Sagar’s excellent knock of 85 and Vishal’s 4 wickets, IndusInd Bank entered the final of Dreamz Champions Regular A by defeating TATA AIG by 29 runs in the semi-final. TATA’s batting let them down after their bowlers had restricted the opposition to a modest total of 143, very much chase-able in current cricket scenario.
IndusInd Bank won the toss and opted to set a target for their opposition. They did not have a solid start to their innings as both the openers Jai and Kailash went back by the fourth over itself. But No. 3 Sagar Man of the Match and No. 4 Saurabh held the innings together in a partnership that lasted for 13 overs and scored 106 runs in the process. But as soon as the partnership was broken, IndusInd’s innings collapsed as they could score only 13 runs in the last 3 overs and lost 5 wickets.
TATA’s bowler Sudesh was responsible for restricting IndusInd to a score which looked at least 25 runs short by picking up some quick wickets towards the end. Abhishek also bowled well for his two wickets.
The final ticket was 144 runs away and some sensible batting would have made it look easier. Openers started steadily and scored 21 runs in 5 overs. By the time 10th over was bowled, 3 wickets had fallen with just 41 runs on the board. This is where TATA AIG lost the plot. Saving wickets for the end might be a good strategy but ticking the scoreboard is equally important even if the chase is not very high.
Due to the mounting pressure of required run rate, batsmen kept throwing their wickets away at regular intervals and TATA were out of the match soon. No. 11 Sudesh tried his bit towards the end but it was too little too late to change the fate of the match. TATA eventually folded for 114 on the penultimate ball of the match and lost by 29 runs and also a place in final.
IndusInd bowlers bowled well to prevent TATA batsmen to get away. Vishal was the pick of the bowlers scalping 4 wickets for just 17 runs. Jitendra grabbed a couple of wickets for himself.
Nitin Mistry, Captain, TATA AIG says, “The pitch played really bad and it was not a worthy pitch for the semi-final. However Sagar played really well when no other batsman was able to put his bat down.”
Click here for detailed scores of this match
Brief Scores:
IndusInd Bank: 143/8 in 20 overs (Sagar 85, Saurabh 23, Sudesh 5/19)
TATA AIG: 114 all out in 19.5 overs (Sudesh 23, Sai 21, Vishal 4/17)
Match Report by:
Sumanyu Jain
Regional Manager & Editor @CricketGraph
Venue: St. Xaviers’ | Match Scorecard | Tournament Details
It was a day for the double D’s as Dhiraj and Devendra guided their team to victory over FSS in the semi-final of Dreamz Challenger Trophy. Dhiraj grabbed 4 wickets to restrict the opposition to a below par score and then Devendra played a gem of an innings to anchor the chase and help his team cross the line with ease.
FSS won the toss and elected to bat first. They were off to a decent start with openers scoring 38 runs in just 4.3 overs. But soon they lost the second wicket as well. Rakesh Rao held one end and scored an explosive knock of 69 runs off just 36 balls including 5 fours and an equal number of sixes. Other batsmen just kept falling around him but he did an excellent job to take his team to a respectable total and was the last man dismissed. Had he stayed for the remaining 7 balls, who knows a score in excess of 150 would have posed some serious challenge to Insta?
Dhiraj was the pick of the bowlers capturing 4 wickets and giving away just 12 runs in his four overs. Aniket and Hrishikesh managed a couple of wickets each.
Insta lost their opening batsman Hrishikesh in the second over itself but it proved to be a blessing in disguise as the next pair of Devendra and Aniket smashed FSS bowlers in a match winning partnership of 114 runs in just 73 balls. Man of the Match Devendra was particularly harsh on the bowlers scoring 72 runs off just 47 balls that included four boundaries and four sixes. Aniket contributed with a handy 37. They lost 2 quick wickets towards the end but the match was as good as over by then and they won eventually by 6 wickets.
No FSS bowler could apply any sort of brakes on Devendra and Aniket and all of them went for plenty. With this win, Insta reach the final of the Dreamz Challenger Trophy to have a shot at the title.
Devendra from Insta says, “It was an excellent game between two professional corporate teams. The team which played better won at the end. Fortunately things went in our way.”
Brief Score:
FSS: 132 all out in 18.5 overs (Rakesh 69, Dhiraj 4/12, Hrishikesh 2/14)
Insta: 133/4 in 15.1 overs (Devendra 72, Aniket 37, Aniket 1/21)
Match Report by:
Sumanyu Jain
Regional Manager & Editor @CricketGraph
Venue : Young Mohamedan Cricket Ground Mumbai | Match Scorecard | Tournament Details After posting a modest total of 141, you cannot predict the result of the match accurately but more often than not, you will support the chasing side. That the team batting first will win is a normal occurrence but if it wins by a whopping margin of 73 runs, then the contest has to be one –sided. In the Dreamz Champions Trophy Regular Champions B semi-final, Learn Quest defeated Cex by 73 runs to enter the final in style.
Learn Quest won the toss and chose to bat first. Opener Ankur was unfortunately run out in the first over itself. But Mehul and Vishal stitched a partnership together and brought their team in to a good position. Their partnership lasted for 79 runs in about 11 overs. After that no other batsman could maintain the momentum and Learn Quest lost wickets in a heap towards the end when acceleration was required. They ended at a below par 141 and lost 8 wickets in the process. Cex’s Nikhil bowled brilliantly for his 3 wickets. Other bowlers also contributed for a wicket each.
Chasing 142 is not really an uphill task. But when it’s not your day, it’s not your day. The same can’t be said for Quest bowlers though. All of them bowled superbly and were amongst the wickets. Cex started the same way as their opponents, losing their opener in the first over itself. What began in the first over did not end till the 17th over. The wickets kept falling at regular intervals and Cex never really looked to chase down the total. Only opener Sandesh could stand against the bowlers for some time but it was not enough. The innings folded for a paltry 68 in just 16.4 overs thereby losing by 73 runs. Five bowlers shared a couple of wickets each.
Vishal was adjudged man of the match for his all-round effort of scoring 36* and taking 2 wickets.
Ashish More, Skipper of Learn Quest says, “We bowled really well. I think we were about 20 runs short but our bowlers covered up to give us a big win. Vishal was outstanding both with bat and ball. We are very happy to reach the final.”
Sandesh More, vice captain, Cex says, “It was a good match which we could have won easily but we did not play as per our true potential especially with the bat. But the credit goes to Learn Quest as they played good cricket in all areas and as a result they are in the final. Best of luck to them.”
Brief Scores:
Learn Quest: 141/8 in 20 overs (Vishal 36*, Mehul 28, Nikhil 3/22)
Cex: 68 All out in 16.4 overs (Sandesh 27, Piyush 17, Hemant 2/3, Ashish 2/7)
Match Report by:
Sumanyu Jain
Regional Manager & Editor @CricketGraph
Venue : Mumbai Police Gymkhana Cricket Ground Mumbai | Match Scorecard | Tournament Details
City Riders: 175 All out in 19.2 overs (Shahid 56, Almeda 38, Akhter 3/35, Aashish 2/25)
Ghatkopar Jets: 179/4 in 18.3 overs (Sarvesh 71, Swapnil 64, Santosh 2/30, Shahid 1/21)
Report:
This might not be comparable with India’s 1983 victory against the mighty West Indies, but despite being categorized as underdogs and odds stacked against them, Ghatkopar Jets have won the prestigious Mitsui Shoji Tournament 2015 and that too in style. They won by 6 wickets against a team whom they had failed to beat twice in the same tournament previously. But they won when it mattered the most- in the final. It was a comprehensive victory, to say the least.
Ghatkopar Jets won the toss and sent the tournament favourites- City Riders to bat first despite being smashed by them for the highest score of the tournament previously. Riders lost Jay Bishta early but Almeda continued from where he had left in the semi-final. He smashed the bowlers all over the park and scored a whirlwind 38 from just 18 balls. Ghatkopar were lucky to have got his wicket soon otherwise he would have created havoc for a longer duration. Next three batsmen also played well and got their team into a good position. No. 3 Shahid Shaikh was in devastating form and scored 56 runs off just 27 balls. City Riders were looking for yet another 200 plus total with 150 runs on the board in the 16th over and 7 wickets in hand. Semi-final hero Santosh Shinde was yet to arrive at the crease. It was the perfect platform for him to explode and get his team to a winning total.
But Akhter Shaikh came on to bowl the 16th over and the game turned on its head. He got Vinayak on the second ball and Santosh Shinde was run out on the third. This enabled Ghatkopar Jets to pull back the innings and they picked up some quick wickets and City Riders could not capitalize the slog overs. They were bundled out for 175, let alone score 200.
Akhter Shaikh was the pick of the bowlers, scalping 3 wickets. He got good support from Vaibhav Mali and Aashish More.
After restricting the opponents to a below par score, at least by their standards, Ghatkopar Jets were instilled with some confidence of chasing down the total. Their top order responded with the same spirit and despite losing Akhter Shaikh very early, Swapnil and Sarvesh took the attack to the opposition and scored at more than 9 runs per over for a partnership that lasted for 102 runs and 65 balls. This almost sealed the match for Ghatkopar Jets. Sarvesh continued the chase with Jaydeep and took the score past 150. Although they lost 2 quick wickets but they were well within the striking distance of chasing the total and winning the cup. Yogesh Pawar did not let the top order effort get wasted and did the finishing touches by scoring an unbeaten 10 ball 23.
City Riders, already ruing the fact that they let the game slip away in the last five overs of their batting, were carted by Ghatkopar batsmen and could not really come back into the game after that. Neither could they pick wickets nor stop the flow of runs. Only Santosh Shinde could pick up 2 wickets but more was required to defend the target.
Following awards were given in the presentation ceremony, in the presence of Former India International, Dilip Vengsarkar:
Man Of the Match: Sarvesh Damle (71 runs), Ghatkopar Jets
Best Batsman: Shashank Singh (417 runs in 9 matches), Shivaji Park Warriors
Best bowler: Santosh Shinde (14 wickets), Mumbai Police City Riders Skipper
Man of the series: Akash Parkar, Mumbai Police City Riders
Best player: Ajinkya Belonshe, Ghatkopar Jets skipper)
Captains Corner:
Ajinkya, Ghatkopar Jets: “The decision to field first was a good one. Bowlers did great job and fielding was also good. We kept our cool when City Riders were batting well but some good bowling changes worked for us. They fell short of about 35 runs, the way they were going. Out batsmen made the chase look easy. All credit to our team. I also thank them for giving me the captaincy as we had lost first few of our league matches and we had a point to prove.”
Santosh Shinde, City Riders: “We batted well but could not finish well. Our bowling was also not up to the mark. Dropped catches added to our woes. Congratulations to Ghatkopar. They played really well and deserve the cup.”
About the Tournament: Mitsui Shoji Tournament is a very popular tournament in Mumbai organized by Mumbai Cricket Club. Five teams participated in the 2015 edition with Twister and Sagar Samit International as the main Sponsors of the tournament.
We hope that you enjoyed the tournament as much as we did while covering it. We promise to come back soon with the next edition of the tournament.
Keep following CricketGraph for exclusive coverage of other tournaments happening around the city.
Match Report by:
Sumanyu Jain
Regional Manager & Editor @CricketGraph