Onkar & Sarfaraz Khan’s batting helps Payyade to win the match against New Hind in the Purshottam Shield
It was a hard fought quarter final match between New Hind Sports Club & Payyade in the Purshottam Shield Tournament. Payyade had elected to field first after winning the toss since they have a solid batting line up to chase the score.
Payyade had a target of restricting them around 300 & partially succeeded in achieving that. New Hind which is equally a strong team as payyade batted well and managed to score 319/10 in 68.3 overs. Sunil Chauri who was dropped earlier was the pick of the batsman with 118 followed by Akshay Jambhekar (49) and Bhavin Thakkar (33). The frontline payyade bowlers did their job as pacer Asif Attarwala and experienced spinner Pardeep Sahu both took two wickets. The bowling was effective but a target of above 300 is always tough to chase. Hence the pressure of chasing was visible on skipper Parag and his team.
Payyade effortlessly chased the target in just 66 overs with the help of Onkar Khanvilkar and Sarfaraz khan. While Onkar is a talented player, we all know about Sarfaraz too. He needs no introduction & in fact it was because of the strong batting line up (till no.9) Payyade took the decision of bowling first. Left-handed Onkar Khanvilkar scored a magnificent 131* (9 fours & 1 six) at almost a run a ball which was completely crucial for Payyade’s victory. Sarfaraz Khan also scored 85* off 76 balls which included some fantastic sweep shots. Both the players stitched a 150+ partnership which took the game in their favor & eventually steered the team to a cruising victory. Fours and sixes smashed by both these players were nothing short of class and grace & they hardly wasted their time in their stay at the crease. To some extent the opposition was under pressure as Sarfaraz was yet to come & he did what was expected from him. The India under 19 & RCB player Sarfaraz khan showed his mettle at the crease while chasing.
Onkar & Sarfaraz both together chased the score in just 66.3 overs and won the quarter final match by 5 wickets and 9 overs to spare. The icing on the cake was Onkar finishing off the match in style with a six to lead his team into the semi-finals. Their coach Umesh Patwal was not present for this match but he would be elated to see his team’s performance and progress.
