Nikhil Patil scores a fighting hundred while Nayar’s 10wkt haul pushes Bharat Petroleum to a win in the Times Cricket Shield ‘17
When the chips are down and someone comes to the rescue, that’s when the real class and resilience of a player is tested and talented Nikhil Patil just did that recently in the Times Shield scoring a hundred at a time when the wickets were falling from the other end. Played at the cross maidan, BPSA (Bharat Petroleum Sports Association) won the toss and elected to bowl first with the back of their good bowling line up.
Their decision was actually spot on with Tata sports struggling at 2wickets down for 9runs and 4wkts down for 40 runs at one stage. They were looking all set to be bundled out for just 100-110runs. But that was not the case as right handed Nikhil Patil at no.4 anchored the innings and resurrected the innings back like a surgeon scoring a valiant 100* off 170balls(17fours). Nikhil looked really confident and different from the rest of the batsman who were not able to convert their starts as he kept the score board ticking and dealt in boundaries too helping Tata Sports reach a somewhat respectable total of 193/all out in 53.2 overs. Medium pacer Abhishek Nayar has decided that he will let his perfomance do the talking as he looks all set for a domestic comeback with consistent performances so far. Continuing his form from the last match, Nayar went on to take 6/32 in this match in 18.2 overs which did the maximum damage. Abhishek was really bowling at a nice pace and was able to hit the right line and length. BPSA on the other hand declared at 220/9 with opener Bhavin scoring 41 while Suryakumar Yadav and all-rounder Abhishek Nayar both scoring half centuries at the middle order.
Tata Sports were again bundled out for 138 runs where in Nikhil top scored with 32 while Nayar was again the pick of the bowlers with 4/34 taking his tally of wickets to 10 in this match. Medium pacer Tushar Deshpande also bowled well bagging 4wkts. With a lead of just 72runs, BPSA chased down the score in just 8.4 overs and won the match by 9wkts. BPSA looked dominating throughout the match and Nayar’s all-round show coupled with Nikhil Patil’s fighting 100* remain the highlight performances of the match.
CRICKETGRAPH