Nagpur defeats Pune in a nail biting final of the Advocate Premier League
It was the all important final match between Nagpur and Pune B at the Nehru Stadium in Pune. After fighting hard throughout the tournament, it was time for both the teams to give their last but the best efforts to lift the prestigious Advocate league trophy.
Pune B had won the toss and elected to bat first, the openers gave away their wicket with Bharat Mizire out for a duck while Anand padke who could not convert his 23-ball 21 to a big score. Pune did had some soul down the order as Akshay Jadhav resurrected the Pune innings to some extent with an aggressive 46 off just 39 balls. He took away the positive momentum which Nagpur had developed for a while. Jadhav’s knock included 4 fours and he really worked hard between the wickets to take singles and twos. Amit Ganpule managed to give some support with his 20 ball 22. Pune B scored 131/6 in 20 overs due to some tight bowling by the opposition. Shahid syed was excellent with the ball giving away just 12 runs in 4 overs & also taking 2 wickets.
Chasing 131 was like a cakewalk for Nagpur but Pune B fought hard till the end & did not allow anybody to score freely. Quite evident from the fact that Pune lost the match by only 2 wickets. Nagpur won the match ending their score at 135/8. It was a nervous match which held our excitement till the end. Amit Ganpule (2/24), Milind Sanas (2/14) & Alok Zende (2/24) contributed well with the ball.
Nagpur defeated Pune in their own turf & lifted the trophy with pride. Shahid Syed was adjudged “man of the match” for his wonderful bowling where he contained the batsman and also took wickets.
It was a perfect final match to be witnessed at the Nehru stadium. This is a tournament where over 105 teams participate from different corners of Maharashtra to play. Advocates from every part of the Maharashtra gather through different teams to play cricket & compete in this exciting tournament. The tournament also witnessed wonderful individual performances right from Ashish Gawonde (383 runs in 8 matches) & Mohammad Fakih (334 runs in 7 matches) topping the batting charts. In the bowling department it was Sushen Barsikar(of Pune B) topping the charts with 23 wickets in 7 matches followed by Sudeep Jaiswal(Nagpur) with 20 wickets in the tournament,
The tournament was a wonderful success with each team giving their best, while Napur team lifted the trophy, Pune B was the runner up. We wish the tournament becomes an equal success when it is played again the next year.
