After scoring runs at the local level in the Inter Collegiate and Summer Shield, Maxwell Swaminathan getting an opportunity to play in Madhav Mantri tournament has certainly excelled to be a promising all-rounder. Ghatkoper Jolly Gymkhana after opting to bat first could have been all out for under 200 runs had it not been a brilliant ton by Maxwell. After a solid top order start by Rohan Tambe (59) and Kunal Chalke (48), Maxwell Swaminathan coming at no.4 went on to score a brilliant 149* off 197 balls. A knock full of impressive shots consisted 20 boundaries and a six as he kept on ticking the scoreboard despite the lack of support from the batsman below him. Eventuallly, Ghatkopar Jolly Gymkhana reached a total of 317/10 in 96.1 overs.
DY Patil Nerul Center in reply were bundled out for 124 runs thanks to a brilliant spell of fast bowling by Wasim Shaikh. Wasim returned with excellent bowling figures of 6/44 in 13 overs sending batsman back to the pavilion at regular intervals. Receiving a follow on, DY Patil were all out for 214 runs and this time it was Maxwell with the ball taking 5/75 in 15.1 overs. Maxwell with his accurate line and length reaped rewards as DY Patil could only give a target of 24 runs which Ghatkoper Jolly Gymkhana chased it down with ease winning the match by 10 wkts!
IndiaFirst Life Insurance faced the uphill task of being pitted against one of the strongest teams in the Tournament – OSM, who have been steamrolling it’s opponents till this Semi-finals.
After winning the Toss, OSM chose to bat on what seemed to be a very flat wicket devoid of any grass at Dadar Union, Matunga Gymkhana. They got to a good start, with an opening partnership of 39 in the first 4 overs, before losing their first Wicket. Santosh Palve’s 55 (42 Balls; 3 4s & 3 6s) held up the middle order. But it was a blazing 66 off 30 Balls (5 fours & 5 sixes) from Amit Patil, before Dharmendra Gupta got his Wicket in the penultimate Over of the Innings, that provided the required impetus to the Innings, helping them post a good Total of 181/6 in the stipulated 20 Overs.
For IndiaFirst Life, Anand Kumbhar (4-0-24-2) and Pushkar Sharma (3-0-25-2) were the pick of the Bowlers. Swaminathan GK (2-0-16-0) was unlucky to concede 4 Overthrows in his otherwise tight spell of accurate Seam Bowling. Wicket-keeper Rupen Chaurasiya was brilliant behind the wickets with some great saves and a lightning Stumping off Kabir Ahmad who also bowled two good overs. Pushkar, in the last over of the innings, conceded just 4 Rruns taking 2 wickets to peg OSM back a little.
Chasing a fairly big Target, an aggressive 89 Run partnership off 7.1 overs between Pushkar Sharma and Kabir ahmad for the second Wicket laid a great foundation for their Team before the latter got out for an excellent 46 off 24 Balls that consisted 3 Fours and 3 Sixes. By the time Pushkar got out for a magnificent 65 off 38 Balls (8 fours & 2 sixes), IndiaFirst were almost cruising. Kunal Bambardekar played a sensible yet aggressive cameo, and remained unbeaten on 37 (23 Balls; 4 fours & 3 sixes) along with Babli Sharma (20 n.o. in 10 Balls; 3 fours & 1 six).
At the end, IndiaFirst Life Insurance amassed the challenging Total with utmost ease, with 7 Wickets in hand and almost 4 Overs to spare. Pushkar Sharma was adjudged the Man of the Match for his superb all-round performance.
Earlier, Skipper Ajish Abdul Rehman’s superb all-round display had helped his team top their league after beating JP Corporation in a thriller. After top-scoring with 26 in a low Total of 122, it was an excellent display of quick, fast bowling from the All-rounder. Giving away just 2 Runs off 18 Balls (14 of them beating the Batsmen completely) after a shaky start, Ajish finished with magnificent figures of 3-0-8-1 at 2.67 per Over, helping his team win the match from a seemingly improbable situation.
One more great spell of fast bowling from Ajish, along-with a hat-trick (3-0-19-4) from his deputy Ramana Meesala had helped them secure the semi-finals berth in another thriller in the Quarter-finals against VPS, where they defended a Target of 104 in 20 Overs.
It needs to be remembered that the magnificent 98 off 60 Balls against Tata International and a tight Bowling spell against Wrong UNS from Ajish were largely instrumental in this winning streak of IndiaFirst Life Insurance team.
After Ajish taking the team to the semis, it was Pushkar steering team to the finals. Ajish & Pushkar are also currently among the top Run Scorers in the Tournament, with Wasim Sayyed leading the Wickets Tables. Their Team is now slated to play the Finals at Fatima Ground, Ghatkopar next Sunday, 19 May, 2019.
Thanks to skipper Jitesh Purabia’s all-round performance ( 25 balls 39, 2 for 18 in 4 overs and 3 catches) well supported by Suraj Lalvani (32 balls 53) and left arm spinner Bhavik Patel (2 for 20 in 4 overs ) ICICI Bank beat formidable RBI by 10 runs in the nail biting final of Inter -Bank tournament played at National pitch cross maidan.
Jitesh Purabia of ICICI was adjudged man of the final and also Man of the tournament. Sumit Ghadigaonkar and Jai Naik both from RBI got Best batsman and Best bowler of the tournament award.
Former captain of India Mr. Dilip Vengsarkar was Guest of Honour and Executive director of RBI Mr. Deepak Mohanti were Chief guest for the well attended prize distribution function.
ICICI Bank defeated IdbI, Bank of India, kotak bank in league matches and Central Bank of India in semi finals and RBI in the finals to lift the 60 th sir Benegal Ramarau trophy for the first time.
Brief score: ICICI 171 for 7 in 20 overs ( Jitesh Purabia 39 ,Suraj Lalvani 53 ,Jai Nayak 2 for 39 ,Abu Bukar siddiqi 2 for 34) beat RBI 161 all out in 20 overs ( Tejas Kalyankar 36*, Raju More 30, Jitu Purbia 2 for 18 ,Bhavik Patel 2 for 20)
SPW batting first at the Police Gymkhana Ground posted a total of 169/9 in 20 overs which is surely a defendable one. Kushal Davane from Shivaji Park Warriors top scored hitting a fluent 65 off 41 ball (3 fours, 5 sixes) while late cameo by Ravindra Jadhav (38 off 19) ensured the team crossed the 160 run mark. Yogesh Jagtap (3/27) and Anirudh Mainkar (3/27) were the pick of the bowlers from Mumbai Police City Riders.
Chasing a steep target of 170 at almost 8 runs per over, Mumbai Police City Riders were 41/4 and 71/6 at one stage however a brilliant innings by Swapnil Kulaye at no.5 raised hopes for sometime.
Swapnil despite lacking support from the other end took on the bowlers hitting a blazing 66 off 27 balls which had 5 fours and 5 sixes in it. Jayesh Pawar (2/27), Ravindra Jadhav (2/24) and Mayur Shirsagar (2/28) were excellent with the ball not only taking wickets but also bowling at an economical rate.
Shivaji Park Warriors won the Qualifyer II match by 19 runs while all-rounder Ravindra Jadhav was declared ‘man of the match’
A solid 118 by opener Bhupen Lalwani alongwith some middle-order cameos by Pranav Kela (53) and Viraj Jadhav (44) ensured that Dilip Vengsarkar were sitting in a strong position after reaching 341/10 in 101.5 overs. Off-spinner Tanvish Vaze with 4/71 in 25 overs was the pick of the bowlers from PDTSA Team.
Trailing 342 runs and openers losing wicket early, Dilip Vengsarkar Center were looking clear favorites until no.3 batsman Utkarsh Raut came in and change the whole game. Utkarsh went on to score a marathon innings of 220* in 309 balls laced with 27 boundaries and 2 sixes. Utkarsh toiled with the bowlers not only changing the momentum but also keeping the scoreboard ticking.
Utkarsh also received support from the middle order consisting of all-rounder Tanvish Vaze (54), Sagar Vishwas (47) and Siddhesh (33) as PDTSA Boisar center reached a mammoth 1st innings total of 470/9 dec in 118.5 overs.
Dilip Vengsarkar Boys were looking solid in their 2nd innings with Saurabh Tendulkar (82*) and Bhupen (32*) remaining unbeaten before the end of the game’s play where PDTSA Boisar center won the match on 1st innings lead.
Welspun after batting first at the Vengsarkar Academy, Mahul posted a very healthy total of 174/6 in 20 overs. Manish Ambavane opening the innings top scored with a gritty 65 off 38 balls (12 fours) while W Swapnil with a 33 ball 46 was the 2nd highest scorer for Welspun. Manish who top scored for Welspun kept the scoreboard ticking with his impressive strokeplay. From the bowlers, T Sharwan (2/26) & Anil Bhalala (2/29) were the pick of the bowlers.
Chasing 175, the entire Trafigura team struggled with only opener Anil Bhalala managing to give some jitters to the bowlers. Anil went on to score a blazing 44 ball 101 despite lacking support from the other end where in the 2nd highest score in Trafigura was 18 runs. It was a herculean knock which consisted as many as 8 sixes and 11 boundaries as he was looking dangerous to finish the game alone. Welspun bowlers did an excellent job with Vishal Shinde (3/27), Rohit (2/17) and Mukesh (2/21) being the pick of the bowlers.
However, Trafigura were all out 164 runs in 19.4 overs falling short of 11 runs. Welspun win the Quarterfinals of the tournament while Anil Bhalala for his brilliant and well fought knock was declared “Man of the Match”
Team Turner batting first managed to post a modest total of 142/6 in 20 overs. Karthik’s 43 at the middle order was the highest score in what was an otherwise average batting performance. Aniket Patil with 2/39 in 4 overs was the pick of the bowlers.
Chasing 143 odd runs, opener Pratik Gharat from Inditrade took on the bowlers hands on hitting a blazing 101* in mere 53 balls. Pratik single handedly took care of the chase hitting 10 fours and 4 sixes at a healthy strike rate of 191.00 as Inditrade won the match by 8 wkts and 4.4 overs to spare.
Pratik Gharat for his brilliant 101* was declared ‘man of the match” steering his team into the finals.
A blistering 90’s from Amar Padhye to begin their chase ensured Axis Bank avoided the wooden spoon, scoring a consolation seven-wicket victory over Mahindra & Mahindra in a championship knockout round 3 final match of the T20 Master’s Cup (Red), organized by Oneworld Of Sports and played at the ELF Vengsarkar Oval, Mumbai on 5th May.
Asked to bat first on a slower-than-usual Oval track, Mahindra & Mahindra stuttered to 160 for 5 with Deepak Shetty’s go-slow encapsulating their struggles. They face difficulty in negotiating the rival bowling attack and scored runs hardly and they amassed a low total. While, they were keep losing the wickets without any favourable partnership. Mahindra made their way to 56 for 1 in the Powerplay.
While chasing, Amar Padhye’s 92 off 44 balls as part of a 121-run second wicket stand with a sedate R Shinde powered Axis Bank towards the target of 161, eventually knocked off with 40 balls to spare. Amar Padhye of Axis Bank won the ‘Man-of-the-Match’ title. He smashed sensible 92 off 44 balls, including sixteen fours and a single six.
Brief Stats: Axis Bank vs Mahindra & Mahindra Full Scorecard ….
Best Batting Figures from Mahindra – Deepak Shetty (50* off 32)
Best Batting Figures from Axis – Amar Padhye (92 off 44) and Ravi Shinde (49)
Best Bowling Figures from Mahindra – Sandeep Patil 1-26
Best Bowling Figures from Axis – Jagdeep Bawa 2-19
Kurla Sports Club after opting to bat first at the Islam Gymkhana posted a total of 288/10 in 43.3 overs. Despite a not so impressive start by the top order, the middle order consisting of Jitesh Purabia 78 off 71 balls (7 fours , 5 sixes) & Sagar Ghadigaonkar 83 off 76 (10 fours, 1 six) stitched a match winning 172 run stand for the 6th wicket ensuring their team reached a competitive total.
Chasing 289, Modern CC were all out for just 89 runs thanks to a hostile spell of fast bowling by fast bowler Sandeep Pawar. Sandeep came up with excellent bowling figures of 5/16 in 6 overs as he took wickets at regular intervals helping his team win with domination.
Kurla Sports Club won the match by 199 runs and reach the semi-finals of the Kanga Knockout Tournament’19
U19 Virar Center after being put to bat first at the Air India SC, Kalina Center suffered a batting collapse getting all out for just 71 runs in 28.4 overs. Right arm promising quickster Prince Badiyani ran through the batting line up of Virar coming up with envious bowling figures of 6/31 in 14.4 overs with 5 maidens. Prince was spot on with the ball and maintained impressive accuracy which reaped him and his team rewards.
Shivaji Park Center in reply declared their innings on 180/9 giving a 2nd innings trail to Virar team. Virar center struggled in their 2nd innings too this time getting all out for just 65 runs in 23.2 overs. Aditya Jadhav (3/6) and Parth Darji (2/6) were the pick of the bowlers while Prince who took 2 wkts in 2nd innings ended the match with bowling figures of 8/61 in 23.4 overs with 8 maidens.
Shivaji Park Center won the match outright by an innings and 44 runs while it was a great team performances led by Prince’s 8wkt haul.