Chitnis’s crucial ton steers MIG to Talim finals while Humayun’s half century does the job for Mumbai Police Gymkhana
This Sunday witnessed two intense semi-finals where 4 of the most prolific teams of Mumbai cricket clashed with each other to seal their spot in the finals. The 1st match was between MIG and Parkophene Cricketers at the Karnatak Sporting Association while the other semi-final was between Mumbai Police Gymkhana and DY Patil at the police gymkhana ground.
At Cross Maidan, Parkophene Cricketers won the toss and elected to field first. MIG batting first hardly looked deterred when they were made to bat first. The top order chipped in with 30’s and 40’s but it was Siddarth Chitnis at the middler order coming at no.5 who saved the day. Right handed Siddarth smashed a superlative 123* off mere 98balls which took his team towards a very defendable total. Siddarth delivered when it was needed and it speaks a lot about his cricketing character and resilience at the crease. Chitnis literally took on the bowlers smashing 9fours and 6sixes in his unbeaten knock which helped MIG post 289/7 in 45 overs. Chasing 290, Parkophene boys did experienced the pressure of chasing at more than 7runs per over as they were all out for 217runs where in Salman Ahmed (47) and Jiniv Joshi (45) looked impressive. Balkrushna Shirke was the pick of the bowlers with 3/39 as MIG won the match by 72runs qualifying for the all important finals.
In the other semi-final at the Police Gymkhana, Mumbai Police won the toss and elected to bowl first wherein DY Patil scored 254/7 in 45 overs. Opener Shoaib Shaikh(64) & Sarvesh Damle (81) played crucial knocks where the rest of the batsman were finding it a bit difficult to score runs. Off-spinner Chirag Khurana was the pick of the bowlers with 3/35 from Mumbai Police. Chasing 255, Mumbai Police were off to a flying start with openers Agni Chopra (47) and Humayun Hirapure (65) setting the tone for the innings with a 99run stand. All-rounder Chirag who took 3wkts also chipped in with a valiant 41 at no.3 followed by 20’s and 30’s by the rest of the batsman which helped Mumbai Police Gymkhana win the semi-finals by 4wkts.
Two big wins for two big teams which will eventually lead to a thrilling finale to watch out for!
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