Batting first, Automotive posted a challenging 162-9 in 20 overs against Lintas on 21st May at Karnataka Cricket Club during the Milan Mega Corporate T20 match. Riding on Chetan Jaiswal’s (58 not out off 31 balls) fantastic batting performance, Automotive could put up a good score on board. Coming lower down the order Chetan played some wonderful cricketing shots and was a delight to watch. Jai Kirtikudkar was the pick of the bowlers picking up 3-23 in four overs.
In reply, Lintas was done and dusted for 114 in 19.5 overs, losing the match by 48 runs. Nakul Kulkarni top scored with run a ball 40 runs but his efforts went in vain as rest of the team failed to click as a unit. The man who had shined with the bat, came in handy with the ball as Chetan Jaiswal grabbed 5-26 in 3.5 overs. He was the wrecker-in-chief as he ran through the Lintas line-up in no time.
Chetan Jaiswal (58 not out off 31 balls and 5-26 in 3.5 overs) was declared as the Man of the Match for his brilliant all-round efforts.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Orange posted a mammoth 191-8 in 20 overs against Global Connect on 21st May at Karnataka Cricket Club during the Milan Mega Corporate T20 Tournament. Openers Akhtar Shaikh (60 runs off 28 balls) and Nishant Kashikar (43 runs off 30 balls) provided a great start to Orange. The opening partnership was instrumental in helping Orange put up a big score on board. Akhtar looked in good touch and played some effortless shots. Smacking eight boundaries and two maximums, he was a delight to watch. Off break bowler Prashant Yadav was spectacular with the ball picking up 5-24 in his four overs.
In reply, it was a disappointing performance with the bat by Global Connect as they were all out for 111 in 17.5 overs, falling short of 80 runs. Middle order bat Latif Bhagwan top scored with 27 runs off 22 balls. Nitin Deshmukh and Rishi Mapra bowled well in tandem to pick up three wickets each.
Akhtar Shaikh (60 runs off 28 balls) was declared as the Man of the Match for his fantastic batting.
It was quite a one sided affair when Indusind Bank locked horns against DSP Blackrock on 21st May in Mumbai during the Plate Group semi-final match of Woods T20 Bowled Out Corporate Cricket Cup. Batting first, DSP could manage a paltry 82 and were done and dusted in 17.2 overs. Indusind bowled well as a unit, with four out of the five bowlers picking up two wickets each. Siddharth was the most economical in the lot giving away just 11 runs in three overs.
It was an easy chase for Indusind, with opening bat Jai scoring more than half of the runs. He scored a blistering 46 off 25 balls and was pivotal in his team’s success. He played some good looking cricketing shots and was a treat to watch. Indusind chased down the target in 8.2 overs, winning the match comprehensively by seven wickets. Rakesh, Bhavesh and Sunil chipped in one wicket each.
Jai (46 runs off 25 balls) was awarded with the Man of the Match prize for his brilliant batting performance.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Route SMS posted a challenging 165-4 in 20 overs against HDFC Bank on 21st May in Mumbai in the Elite Group quarter-final match of Woods T20 Bowled Out Corporate Cricket Cup. Santosh (20 runs off 16 balls) and Deepak (39 runs off 38 balls) provided a solid start to their team and in the end it was Rishikesh (50 not out off 26 balls) who played a gem of an innings to take his team past 150-run mark. Nishit was the pick of the bowlers picking up 2-28 in his four overs.
HDFC Bank had a terrible day with the bat as they were all out for just 75 in 17 overs, losing by a big margin of 90 runs. Opening bat Anand top scored with 29 runs off 28 balls and was the lone fighter for HDFC. Yogesh and Bhushan bowled well in tandem grabbing three wickets each. They maintained a disciplined line and length and help their team easily defend the target.
Bhushan (11 runs off 9 balls and 3-13 in 4 overs) was awarded with the Man of the Match prize for his all-round performance.
It was a low scoring game that was played between Deutsche Bank and ICICI Bank on 22nd May during the Plate Group quarter-final of Woods T20 Bowled Out Corporate Cricket Cup. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Deutsche Bank was bundled out for a paltry 94 in 19.4 overs. Ketan Ghage was the lone fighter for Deutsche Bank top scoring with an unbeaten knock of 40 in 36 balls. Aditya Venugopal was the wrecker-in-chief grabbing 5-15 in his four overs. He was spectacular with the ball and gave no chance to the batsmen to score off him.
What should have otherwise been an easy chase, ICICI Bank made a complete mess of it. They were restricted to 79-9 in 20 overs, falling short of 15 runs. Gaurav and Aditya played well and scored 18 runs each. Eric Baccha was the star performer with the ball picking up 4-10 in his economical spell of four overs. Eric bowled a disciplined line and length and was duly rewarded for his consistency.
Eric Baccha (4-10 in 4 overs) was announced as the Man of the Match for his brilliant bowling.
Tata AIG and Ratnakar bank locked horns against each other on 21st May at Azad in the final match of Plate A Dreamz T20 Cricket Tournament. Batting first, Ratnakar Bank posted 146-7 in 20 overs, thanks to some solid batting at the top order. Sandesh Rumde (30 runs off 32 balls) and Pranesh Pawar (22 runs off 25 balls) provided a good start to their team. Ravi Parmar, coming in at no.3, top scored with a blistering 35 off 22 balls. Parmar was aggressive in his intent and played some delightful looking shots. Prasad Ghadigaonkar was the pick of the bowlers picking up 3-27 in his four overs.
In reply, Tata AIG was bundled out for a modest 107 in 18.5 overs, losing the match by 40 runs. Samir Bhatankar was the star bowler grabbing 3-14 in his economical four-over spell. Mahesh Muslondkar chipped in with 2-23 in his 3.5 overs. Apart from Ravi Kadam (33 runs off 42 balls) and Prashant Pawar (25 runs off 20 balls), rest of the Tata batting line-up looked listless. It was a clinical performance by Ratnakar Bank to clinch the Plate A Dreamz T20 Tournament.
The young and budding cricketers of Mumbai and Bangalore came together to participate in Lashkaria Little Champs League 2016 that was played in Mumbai from 17th April to 1st May 2016. 10 teams faced off against each other and 48 matches were played among them. It was a successful tournament as over 200 players participated in it. Tons of runs were scored during the 15-day tournament and bowlers played their part too picking up 624 wickets in total. The batsmen played aggressive cricket peppering the boundary 1357 times and hitting 102 sixes. The league saw 39 half centuries and five centuries.Let us have a quick glance at the five centuries.
Suryansh Shedge of Payyade Sports Club (123 vs Sanjeevani Cricket Club) played a splendid knock against Sanjeevani Cricket Club. Shedge played some delightful looking shots and was pivotal in his team’s success. Suryansh had the perfect blend of defence and aggression in his century.
Gautam Khanapuri of Bangalore United Cricket Club (102 vs Venus Sports Academy and 100 vs Goregaon Sports Club) was the other player who went on to make century. Gautam scored two centuries and had a wonderful tournament. Khanapuri led his team’s batting right from the front and shouldered the responsibility brilliantly.
The third person to reach the century milestone was Vedant Murkar of Shivaji Park Gymkhana (143 vs Mahim Juvenile). Vedant scored a big hundred and was difficult to tame. He made a mockery of Mahim Juvenile’s bowling, and smashed them all-round the park.
Rocky Raj of Sanjeevani Cricket Club (119 vs Bangalore United Cricket Club) was yet another boy to score a wonderful century. Raj’s knock came at good time against the visiting team of Bangalore. He was good on both, front foot and back foot and looked solid all through his innings.
These four centurions have already made their mark in the junior level cricket. Let’s hope that they go a long way in establishing themselves in the professional circuit.
Ghatkopar Jets locked horns against Mumbai Police City Riders on 20th May at Police Gymkhana, Mumbai in the grand final of Mitsui Shoji T20 Tournament. Batting first, Jets put on a magnificent 194-5 in 20 overs. Opening bat Karan Nandey (48 runs off 47 balls) and no.3 batsman Shivam Dube (58 runs off 33 balls) played well together and helped their team to put up a big score on board. Both these batsmen ran well between the wickets and played some good looking cricketing shots. The bowlers had a tough time as both these players were looking to score of every opportunity. Ashwarya, Amit and Vinayak picked up one wicket each.
In reply, City Riders were bundled out for 150 in 19.4 overs, falling short of 44 runs. Shrikant Limbole (94 runs off 60 balls) played a gem of an innings but failed to see his team home. He was the lone fighter for the City Riders, getting no support whatsoever from his fellow teammates. Vishwakarma Singh and Karan Nandey were exceptional with the ball, accounting for three scalps each. Nandey had a wonderful day at office as he shined with both, bat and ball.
Karan Nandey (48 runs off 47 balls and 3-36 in 4 overs) was announced as the Man of the Match and Man of the Series for his clinical performance. Shashank Singh (Shivaji Park Warriors) was awarded with the Best Batsman prize and Ajinkya Belose (Ghatkopar Jets) won the Best Fielder award.
It was a low scoring semi-final at Police Gymkhana on 18th May between Mumbai Police City Riders and Shivaji Park Warriors, when the Warriors could manage a modest 108 in 20 overs. Opening bat Shashank Singh top scored with 19 runs but failed to play a big knock. The Warriors batting failed to click as a team and went down in the all-important semi-final. On the other hand, the City Riders’ bowlers had their tails swinging as they bowled out the Warriors cheaply. Amir Khan, Aquib Shaikh and Amit Kadam bowled well in tandem to grab couple of wickets apiece. Shaikh was a miser in giving away runs and made it very difficult for the batsmen to score of him. He pitched in right areas which bore him the sweet fruits.
In reply, it was a good chase by the City Riders as they chased down the target in 14.5 overs, winning the match by four wickets. Opening bat Sunil Patil (24 runs off 24 balls) provided a solid start to the run chase, which was followed by good collective batting efforts in the middle order. Shashank Singh and Parth Sawant picked up two wickets each.
Aquib Shaikh (2-13 in 4 overs) was awarded with the Man of the Match prize for his brilliant bowling efforts.
In the semi-final of Mitsui Shoji T20 Tournament that was played between Ghatkopar Jets and Bandra Heroes on 18th May at Police Gymkhana, Mumbai, the Jets posted a mammoth 213-7 in 20 overs. Opening bat Karan Nandey was fantastic with the bat, cruising to a blistering 81 off just 45 balls, smacking 10 boundaries and three sixes in his entertaining knock. Nandey was aggressive right from the start, striking at a rate of 180, and was a delight to watch. Towards the end Puneet Tripathi (34 runs off 23 balls), Pushkaraj Chavan (41 runs off 19 balls) and Akhtar Shaik (17 not out off 4 balls) played cameos to take their team over 200-run mark. Manish Rao and Akshay Darekar picked up two wickets each.
Chasing 214 runs was going to be a daunting task. Though Jiniv Joshi (31 runs off 22 balls) and Swapnil Salvi (37 runs off 21 balls) got off to solid starts, they failed to capitalize. Also the rest of Bandra Heroes batting line up looked out of shape. The Heroes were bundled out for 152 in 17.3 overs, losing the match by 61 runs. After shining with the bat, Karan Nandey rolled his arm over to pick up 4-20 ion his four overs. Karan bowled a disciplined line and length and was duly rewarded for his consistency. Vishwakarma Singh chipped in with 3-30 in his 3.3 overs.
For his splendid all-round performance, Karan Nandey (81 runs off 45 balls and 4-20 in 4 overs) was declared as the Man of the Match.