IES Raja Shivaji start Harris shield campaign with massive win

IES Raja Shivaji Vidyalaya, Dadar, is one of the prime school when it comes to Mumbai’s junior cricket. They have been making some name in town due to their fantastic performance in opening game of Harris shield. Placed in group A, IES were up against Parle Tilak vidyalaya’s team which is yet another strong team in their group. However, the match was completely one sided as IES won it comprehensively by an innings and 35 runs.

After winning the toss, Parle Tilak opted to bat first, aiming to put up a high score on board. But IES bowlers had other plans. IES spinner, Viraj Jadhav ran through Parle Tilak’s batting line up takin 6 wickets. He got a good support from fellow spinner Shantanu Khanvilkar. The quickies Survesh Surve and Visharad Pagare took one wicket each. Parle Tilak were bowled out for 121 in just 57 overs. Suresh Kumbala and Nitin Bhalerao tried to put up some fight but their efforts were not enough to take Parle Tilak to a respectable score. They scored 28 and 23 respectively with a partnership of 51 amongst them.

IES batsman had no pressure on them when they went out to bat. Both of them were looking set as they put up 59 for opening stand. Just then Siddique Mulani, one of their opener got run out. Learning from Parle Tilak’s mistakes, IES batsmen scored 325 runs with 3 of their batsmen scoring half centuries. Survesh Surve, Visharad Pagare and Shantanu Khanvilkar scored 68, 81 and 52 respectively. Omkar Pandit and Suresh Kumbala took 3 wickets each for Parle Tilak.

IES already had a lead of 204 runs which meant that they had good chance to win the game by an innings margin. They did exactly the same. Parle Tilak’s batsmen couldn’t cope up with pressure and fell short by an innings and 35 runs. But they showed some resistance as their batsmen tried to anchor the innings without getting out one after the other. Visharad Pagare shined with ball taking a 5 wicket haul. While Suresh Kumbala was top scorer for Parle Tilak with 56 runs.

IES has produced some quality cricketers like Dilip Vengsarkar and others in past. Placed in group B, IES will be playing against Al-Barkat and Lilavati Potdar School in next matches. Having registered a big win here, they are looking all set to make it through to the semi final. On the other hand, Parle Tilak has a lot to think about. With Al- Barkat also winning by 176 runs against Lilavati Potdar School, the chances for Parle Tilak to qualify for knock outs are extremely vague.