The Automotive Cricket Cap Leaders Campaign has received healthy appreciation from the cricketing community across Mumbai. There were numerous entries across each categories and the competition was intense out of which 3 players emerged out to be the winners in each category.
Let’s take a look at the 3 winners of the Automotive Professional Category Cap leaders for January 2019.
Suraj Pingulkar (Motilal Oswal Team)-Winner of Most Popular Player-Yellow Cap
Suraj won the most popular player award in the Corporate Category bagging the coveted Yellow Cap with 244 votes. Suraj has been one utility all-rounder and his economical spell of 3/24 in 4 overs along with 20* vs Deustche Bank in the Masters Cup was a testimony of his skills.
Ritin Ravindran (Kotak Mahindra Team)-Winner of Purple Cap
Ritin Ravindran came up with one of the best bowling spells in T20 cricket taking a brilliant 6 wkts for 12 runs in 4 overs. Not only that was one of the best bowling figures in the T20 Masters Cup, it was a spell which helped his team Kotak Mahindra win dominantly.
Vicky Patil (IDBI Federal Team)-Winner of Orange Cap
One of the most consistent and dependable batsman of IDBI team in the corporate format, Vicky has been one player who has scored runs at a healthy average. Fifties were always coming easily from his bat but in the month of January, he came up with a stellar knock converting his 50 into something big. Vicky scored a match winning 133 off mere 65 balls which had 14 fours and 6 sixes while also took 3wkts for 24 runs in the same match vs Corporate Solution Pvt. Ltd which made him earn this orange cap.
All these winners are awarded with mini-IPL type caps, certificates & Automotive vouchers worth Rs.2500/- which can be availed within the wide network of Automotive Maruti service centers. The Top 10 winners in each category too will be awarded with Automotive e-vouchers worth Rs.1000/-. Automotive has service centers in Kurla, Dombivali, Nerul & Panvel.
Played between Abbott Healthcare and the Central Railways Institute at Zorastrian Ground, Central Railways after being made to bat first were all out for 208 runs in 44.5 overs. Opener Prashant Nair with 59 runs was the highest scorer while the rest of the batsman failed to convert their starts into big scores. Abbott bowlers did a collectively good performance coming up with wickets at regular intervals.
Chasing 209, Abbott chased it down successfully in 34.4 overs winning the match by 3 wkts. Rehman Siddique opening the innings scored a crucial 63 ball 64 (7 fours, 1six) while Ishan Mithbavkar (6 fours, 1six) at no.4 came up with 46 runs in 54 balls as both the batsman ensured their team crossed the victory line.
With this win, Abbott now reach the quarter finals of the F Div 3rd Round of Times Cricket Shield.
In the match between IDBI and Sony TV, chasing down a target of 115, it was IDBI’s dependable opener Vicky Patil coming up with an impressive knock of 78* off 47 balls (12 fours, 1 six). Vicky played aggressively and anchored the chase successfully as IDBI Federal Insurance won the match by 8wkts and 7.5 overs to spare.
Vicky for his consistent batting in T20 Cricket was also recently awarded the Automotive Award, he was the winner of the Orange Cap.
In the recent match of IDBI vs D11, D11 batting first were bundled out for mere 35 runs thanks to an envious bowling spell by Darshan Manjrekar and Rohan Thakkar. Darshan came up with 5wkts for 9 runs in 4 overs with 2 maidens while Rohan took 4 wkts for 9 runs in 2.5 overs making the life miserable for the batsman. Both the bowlers were spot on with their line and length as IDBI won the match by 10 wkts in a commanding manner.
Smt. Sulochandevi Singhania School after opting to bat first at the Raymond Sports Club Thane made a decent score of 272/8 in 36 overs. Left-handed opener Aarush Patankar who has now become one of the dependable top order batsmen of his school again came good with a sparkling 73 off 72 balls (9 fours) while Ritwik Mohanty at no.5 scored an aggressive 50 ball 70 which proved to be quite crucial at the middle order.
Defending a total of 273 runs, it was off-spinner Anuj Iyer again making life miserable for the batsman coming up with excellent match winning bowling figures of 7wkts for mere 4 runs in 4.2 overs with 2 maidens. Anuj has been growing leaps and bounds as a spinner and this spell was certainly one of the best in the tournament as Saraswati Vidyalaya were all out for just 35 runs handing over a 238 run win to Singhania School.
Played between Kharghar Hunters and SBCC at the Warriors Cricket Ground, SBCC after being made to bowl first managed to score only 129/5 in 20 overs. DB (41*) and Venky (35) were the highest scorers but the bowlers really bowled tight making it difficult for them to score runs freely. From the bowlers, Suresh and Praveen bagged 2 wkts each.
Chasing 130, Kharghar Hunters chased it down in just 17.4 overs winning the match by 5 wkts. Opner Imran with 32 was the highest scorer while Naveen (23*) and Amit (24*) finished off the chase as Kharghar Hunters won the finals of the tournament.
Winner – Kharghar Hunters
Runners up – SBCC
Man of the Series – Jay Rawal ( SBCC )
Best Bowler – Suresh Gudpe ( Kharghar Hunters )
Best Batsman – Prashant Kadam (Warriors )
Man of the match- Imran Modak
Jay Rawal – 85 runs with 9 wkts in 5 matches
Suresh Gudpe took 9 wickets in 4 matches.
Prashant Kadam scored 185 runs in 4 matches.
With the advent of big bash and IPL, T20 cricket has gone to a next level, big sixes, fast hundreds which were out of imagination probably a decade ago has now become a possibility with players like Gayle, Maxwell, Mccullum and so many more.
Doctor Deepak Nikam played a similar sort of knock at the local level where in 7 Hills Jr. batting first scored a massive total of 224/2 in 20 overs. Despite a few early wickets, Deepak Nikam coming at no.3 scored a swashbuckling 165* off mere 76 balls which had 21 fours alongwith 6 sixes much to everyone’s entertainment as he thrashed the bowlers in every corner of the ground.
TMCC in reply managed to score only 136/8 in 20 overs where in Deepak chipped in with 3wkts with the ball too along with Jasweender who also bagged 3 wkts as 7 Hills won the match by 188 runs.
Vijay CC opting to bat first at Shivaji Park Dadar notched up 349 runs in 44.4 overs thanks to a brilliant century by their opener Chinmay Mohite. Chinmay opening the innings wasted no time scoring runs at a healthy strike rate smashing a brilliant 152 off 146 balls. Chinmay smashed 17 fours while also rotated the strike nicely despite lacking support from the other end.
Ishaan Amin coming at no.5 also came good with a flashy 65 off 44 balls.
The opposition team was all out for 117 runs with Akash Dahiya coming up with 4/14 in 6 overs being the pick of the bowlers. Vijay CC won the match by 232 runs while it was a collectively good performance which helped them stay on top.
Shivaji Park Gymkhana opting to bat first on their home ground were in deep trouble at one stage with 3 wkts down for 8 runs and 6 wickets down for 84 runs. The bets were certainly riding high on Parsee Gymkhana to clinch the semis but it was again Vedant at the middle order coming to the rescue.
Vedant coming at no.7 scored a match saving 91 runs off 168 balls (7 fours) which steered his team from 84/6 to 207/10 in 73.2 overs. Manish Rao who took 7 wkts in the quarters continued to impress with the ball bagging a one more fifer to his name. Manish took 5/27 in 15.2 overs being the pick of the bowlers for Parsee Gymkhana.
Defending a low total in the high pressure quarter finals, it was again the experienced Shams who proved to be too heavy for the opposition. Shams bagged a brilliant 7/51 in 16 overs running through the promising batting line up of Parsee Gymkhana as Shivaji Park Gymkhana clinched a win from nowhere first with Vedant’s match saving 91 and then Shams taking care of the bowling department.
Parkophene Cricketers after being made to bat first on CCI ground scored an impressive 370/10 in 89.1 overs. After a decent start by the openers, it was the experienced Prasad Pawar and in-form Sagar Mishra at the middle order stitching a 203 run stand for the 4th wicket. Prasad went on to score a classy 131 off 151 balls (10 fours, 1 six) while Sagar Mishra with a 109 in 155 balls (6 fours) was equally impressive as both the batsman ensured their team was in a commanding position.
CCI despite their in-form opener Ajinkya Patil’s 120 fell short by 69 runs as they lacked batsman who could convert their starts into big scores and partnerships. Ajinkya has been in good nick and batted till the 74th over but it was the co-ordinated efforts of Parkophene bowlers which took the upper hand in the match.
Parkophene Cricketers now reach the Semi-finals of the tournament and will clash the young and promising team of Shivaji Park Gymkhana.
HP Enterprises batting first at the Oval Maidan notched up an impressive total of 193/6 in 20 overs. Amit Nair’s 57 ball 93* at no.3 laced with 16 fours and a six was the highest score from HP’s team Amit batted really well but he lacked support from the other end or HP would have cross the 220 mark.
Trafigura on the other hand chased down the score in mere 15.2 overs as opener Anil Bhalala thrashed bowlers in every corner of the ground. Anil who was recently awarded in the ‘best batsman category” in the Nataraj Pen’s Mumbai’s Own Cricket Awards lived up to his reputation of being a destructive t20 batsman scoring 128* in mere 59 balls which had 14 fours and 8 sixes much to everyone’s entertainment as TRAFIGURA won the match by 8 wkts alongwith 4.4 overs to spare.