Repro India and DTDC Sports Club locked horns against each other during the Times Shield ‘B’ Division match that was played from January 17 to 19. Repro India won the toss and elected to bat.
Riding on Kuldeep Gehi’s scintillating century, Repro India piled up a mammoth 374 in 78.4 overs. Gehi, batting at number four, muscled 134 off 87 and hammered 14 boundaries and 10 sixes. The southpaw took the opposition bowlers to the cleaners with his blitzkrieg. For DTDC, Saksham Parashar was the pick of the bowlers with 75/4 in 18 overs, including three maidens.
In reply, DTDC fought hard and scored 305 in 78 overs. Saksham Parashar again starred with the bat, this time for DTDC. Parashar blasted an unbeaten 158 off 238, hitting 21 boundaries and three sixes. His effort went in vain as none of the other batters of DTDC could make significant contributions. Sumit Markali was the wrecker-in-chief for Repro India with the ball, claiming 66/5 in 16 overs, including three maidens. Markali opened the bowling and rattled the opposition with his pace and discipline.
The match between Repro India and DTDC Sports Club ended in a draw, with Repro India taking the first-innings lead.
The Silver Finals of the JFSC Super Cup was a run-fest between the Navi Mumbai Ninjas and Antique Friends with 404 runs scored in the match. Batting first, the Ninjas mounted a total of 207/8 in 20 overs. Abhijeet Rohandiya anchored the innings as he faced 46 balls and scored 68 with 8 fours and 2 sixes to his name. As he built his innings, he also formed small but crucial partnerships with Azan khan and Yash Doshi, setting up the final overs for Zubair Kazi. Kazi only faced 14 deliveries but caused huge damage as he hammered 53 at a strike rate of 378. Out of the 14 balls, 8 of them were hit for a boundary and just one of them was a four. His innings was the difference maker between the two sides.
Needless to say, the bowling sheet was expensive. Nishant Patankar claimed 3 wickets for Antique Friends while Pratik Jadhav, Amit Dani and Sameer claimed a wicket each. Jadhav was the most economical bowler as he managed to give away just 17 runs in 3 overs.
With a mounting target to chase, the Antique Friends had no option but to be aggressive from the beginning. Despite losing 2 wickets early, they managed to clobber the bowling attack by scoring 94 under 11 overs. A rapid partnership between Amit Dani and Mihir kept them in the hunt. Dani scored 36 off 24 while Mihir hammered 68 off 51 balls. After their dismissals, Shiva Konar and Pratik Jadhav contributed handy runs keeping the in the game. However after Jadhav’s destructive 9-ball 30, he was dismissed with just 13 balls left in the game and still 27 runs to get. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.
Navi Mumbai Ninjas somehow held off a scary challenge from the Antique Friends to lift the trophy. Rajesh Dubey claimed 2 wickets, including the crucial wicket of Pratik. Zubair Kazi was named the Man Of The Match.
In the Diamond Finals of the JFSC Super Cup, Old Monks faced off the Accenture Cricket Club in an enticing battle. The toss was won by Old Monks who elected to set a target. Accenture had a supreme outing for till the 12th over of the match as they had already claimed 6 wickets for just 77, soon enough the pendulum swung heavily towards the Old Monks dugout. Viral Amin stepped in on the field and initiated a recue mission for the Old Monks. Facing 50 balls, Amin hammered an invaluable 77 with 10 boundaries including 5 sixes. His partnership with Priyank Tandon of 80 helped Old Monks pose an unlikely total of 182. Tandon’s 23 ball 36 also comprised of a finishing partnership with Abhishek Ghosalkar (9 off 19).
Despite the early breakthroughs with the ball, Accenture couldn’t keep up the momentum and lost out in the second phase of the first innings. Sahad Shaikh picked up 2 wickets in just an over he bowled while Jairaj Bisht had to bowl his full quota of 4 overs to get 2 scalps. By not maintaining the pressure, Accenture’s batsmen had their work cut our for them.
Throughout the runchase, Accenture managed to form crucial but inadequate partnerships. Deepak, Zaid and Darshan contributing runs but to less affect as the bowlers kept it tight. Accenture could manage only 136 as Old Monks restricted them with a skillful bowling display. Rahul Thakur bowled a stellar spell of 2/24 in 4 overs as veteran an well known personality Pravin Tambe picked up 2 wickets in his 4 overs. Yatin Telang claimed 2 wickets as well in his 2 over spell.
A cumulative bowling performance saw the Old Monks win by 46 runs. Viral Amin was named the Man Of The Match.
The Bronze Finals of the JFSC Super Cup was played between DreamXI and Somaiya Sports Academy after gruesome league games. After winning the toss, Dream XI elected to bat first. After the crucial toss, Dream XI posed an unassailable target of 191 in 20 overs for the loss of 5 wickets. After an early wicket, Vinay Bothra took the responsibility and scored 78 at an imprrssive strike rate of 181.40. His 43-ball innings comprised of 5 boundaries and 7 massive sixes as he formed an important partnership of 96 runs with Chetan Chafekar who chipped in a handy 38-ball 45.
With such a massive total on board, Somaiya SC had a subpar outing with the ball. Pratik Garegaonkar claimed 2 wickets but the pick of the bowlers was Sohan Lal who also claimed 2 wickets but bowled at an economy of 6 runs per over in his 4-over spell.
The second innings was nothing short of entertaining. Dream XI’s opening bowler Shekhar Roy arguably bowled the spells of the tournament. In the powerplay, Roy picked up 4 wickets, dismissing 3 batsmen for a duck and claiming a hattrick in the process. In his 4 over spell he picked up 5 wickets for 30 runs. Opener Vipul Yadav steadied the rocking ship by scoring 33 off 25 as they were reeling at 25 for 4. A small partnership with Pratik Garegaonkar saw them make a comeback in the game.
Pratik’s 43-ball 63 comprised of 7 boundaries and few partnerships with Sushant and Sohan but after his dismissal, the game was over as no other batsman could finish off the innings. Apart from Roy, Vinay Bothra was the only man to claim wickets. Bothra picked up 4 wickets in the second innings after a spirited batting display. His efforts saw Dream XI win by 32 runs.
Pawan Chaulkar of Patkar Varde College oozed class with his stellar batting and brilliant bowling against Dalmia College. Patkar Varde College took on Dalmia College during the Mumbai University inter-college cricket tournament.
In the first innings, when Patkar Varde College were bowling, Pawan claimed 15/2 in four overs. He bowled with a lot of discipline and hit the right straps consistently. Later in the day, during the run chase, he made his presence felt with a blistering 43 off 35, batting at number four.
Pawan’s all-round abilities have played an integral part in Patkar Varde College’s success.
Aayush Shinde starred with the bat for Anjuman-I-Islams Allana English Medium School against Hiranandani Foundation School Thane. Anjuman-I-Islams Allana English Medium School won the toss and elected to bat at Azad Maidan, Mumbai, on January 17.
Opening the batting, Shinde muscled 81 off 68. He smashed 10 boundaries and powered Anjuman-I-Islams to 233 in 30 overs. Yuvan Sharma was the other major contributor with the bat for Anjuman-I-Islams with a 36-ball 67. For Hiranandani Foundation School, Ayush Goho was the pick of the bowlers with 35/4 in six overs.
In reply, Hiranandani Foundation School was skittled for a paltry 67 in 31 overs and lost the match by 166 runs. Anish Jadhav (17) and captain Aarush Chaddha (14) were the only two batters to score in double digits for Hiranandani. On the other hand, Anjuman-I-Islams had a brilliant outing with the ball. Yuvan Sharma, Zaid Khan, and Nirag Gharat were the most successful bowlers with two wickets apiece.
Sharvil Nalavade had a brilliant outing for St. Joseph School, Dombivali against Lakshadham High School during the Mumbai Indians Junior U14 Cricket Tournament.
Lakshadham High School won the toss and elected to bat at the Oval Maidan, Mumbai, on January 18. Riding on Shamik Shettigar’s unbeaten 53, Lakshadham High School posted 158 in 37.5 overs.
For St. Joseph School, Yash Salunkhe and Sharvil Nalavade were the most successful bowlers. The duo scalped three wickets apiece. While Salunkhe registered the figures of 34/3 in eight overs, including one maiden, Nalavade accounted for 15/3 in eight overs, including two maidens. Nalavade claimed a hat-trick as he picked up his three wickets in consecutive balls in the 33rd over.
After gruesome league games and dominating finals, GPCC and Don Bosco CA faced off in an enticing encounter in the finals of the MD Memorial Cup 2023 T20 Tournament. After winning the toss, Don Bosco elected to bowl first. In hindsight, this moved proved to be costly. GPCC managed a competitive total of 143 losing 5 wickets in 20 overs. Aarush Kolhe proved his worth in gold as he scored a crucial half century in the finals. His 29-ball inning comprised of 10 boundaries including 2 sixes. Shourya Oswal from Don Bosco bowled a decent spell of 2/20 in 4 overs.
With an achievable target, it was anyone’s game at the halfway point. Raj Bengde scored 33 alongside Dev Nafade who was unbeaten at 30 by the end of the innings but their innings were in vain as GPCC managed to hold on by just 10 runs. Ankit Mhatre’s match-winning spell of 3/19 in 4 overs saw the GPCC lift the trophy.
For his crucial knock in the first innings, Aarush Kolhe was named the Man of the Match for the finals.
In the Semi Finals of the M.D Memorial Cup 2023 T20 Tournament, Don Bosco CA took on Powai CA. Don Bosco CA bowled well first to rrstrict Powai CA to just 118 in 20 overs. Apart from restricting the runs, they also managed to claim 6 wickets. Opener Vikas scored an anchoring 31 off 43 as the other side was collapsing. Coming down the order, skipper Vivaan hammered a quickfire 34 off just 19 deliveries to push their subpar total ahead. On the bowling side, Eklavya’s exceptional spell of 3/17 in 4 overs stumped the batsmen and gave the upper hand to Don Bosco CA.
Powai CA had little to no reply against the batting line up of Don Bosco CA as they chased down the target with ease. Swanand Palav scored an unbeaten match winning knock of 57 off 48 balls to seal a spot in the finals for his team by 7 wickets.
Eklayvya was named Man of the Match for his bowling.
GPCC took on Bhosale CA in the Semi Finals of the M.D Memorial Cup 2023 T20 Tournament as the former convincingly won. Batting first, GPCC hammered a total of 173 losing 9 wickets in the process. Opener Viraj Patil gave a flying start to the innings by scoring 56 off just 38 balls with 8 boundaries to his name. After his departure, Aarush Kolhe continued the run flow from one end as he hammered 51 off 32 deliveries including 6 fours and a six. It was an expensive outing with the ball for Bhosale CA. Mihir Mahtre claimed 3 wickets as Chinmay Patil and Ved Nadkarni took 2 wickets each.
Bhosale CA had a disappointing outing with the bat as no batsman passed the 20 run-mark. This resulted in the team getting dismissed for just 113 in the 17th over. Anish Mhatre and Vidvesh took 2 wickets as every other bowler claimed a wicket to make sure GPCC win by 60 runs and qualify for the finals.