Payyade Sports Club clinch Police Shield crown
Mumbai, February 28:
Firm favourites Payyade Sports Club snuffed out the strong challenge from Cricket Club of India (CCI) cruising to a five-wicket victory in the final of the D.Y. Patil Group sponsored 73rd Police Invitation Shield Cricket Tournament 2020-2021, organized under the auspices of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), and played at the Mumbai Police Gymkhana ground, Marine Drive on Sunday.
The former two-time champions Payyade who were unbeaten throughout, continued with their impressive winning run to clinch their third title after a gap of nine years. Payyade had earlier emerged champions in 2011 and 2012.
Payyade started the day on a bright note as they won the toss and elected to field. The Payyade bowlers did not disappoint as they showed plenty of discipline and kept the CCI batsmen under control. Left-arm spinners Dhrumil Matkar (3 for 17) and Badre Alam Khan (2 for 65) played a key role in restricting CCI to 216 for 9 wickets from their quota of 45 overs. Half century knocks from lower order batsmen Alpesh Ramjani (57 runs) and Saksham Parashar (56 runs) helped rescue the CCI innings.
In reply, Payyade comfortably chased down their winning target charging to 218 for the loss of 5 wickets in 37 overs. All-rounder Musheer Khan once again batted confidently scoring 75 runs while Raunaq Sharma smashed an unbeaten 48 runs, completing Payyade’s victory with a solid six over mid-wicket fence. Alpesh Ramjani (2 for 36) and Harshal Soni (2 for 48) were the most successful CCI bowlers.
Former Indian cricket captain Dilip Vengsarkar who was the Chief Guest at the final, said that he had fond memories playing in this prestigious tournament. “The first time I played in the Police Shield was when I was 17-year-old. I played for Catholic Gymkhana at times here, and since it is an invitational tournament, anybody can play for any club, and those days Catholic Gymkhana was also part of this tournament. I played alongside many stalwarts including Vasu Paranjpe, Ashok Mankad, Vijay Bhosale, and as a youngster it was a great honour for me to be in the same team,” recalled Vengsarkar.
“I remember the first match we played at Ismail Gymkhana, where I had a partnership with Ashok Mankad as well as Vijay Bhosale, in fact Vijay Bhosale scored 180 runs and they made sure they hit two boundaries every over, and took the single off the last balls, so I was just running the singles basically, but I learnt a lot from those innings.”
“I always believe it is important to play in all the club matches, because as a 17-year-old, I could play with Test cricketers, who were stalwarts in cricket and those who had played for India, those who were playing for Mumbai, so if you are playing with them you can learn from them and it is important to watch and improve. These are the things which I learnt in that innings, in that tournament and of course we won the Police Shield at the time in 1974,” he proudly mentioned.
Later, Vengsarkar in the presence of Commissioner of Police, Mumbai, Param Bir Singh presented the Champions and Runner-up trophies to Payyade SC and CCI respectively. Payyade were richer by Rs 0ne Lakh, while CCI received Rs 50,000.
Payyade’s young all-rounder Mushir Naushad Khan bagged four individual awards including the Player-of-the-Tournament’ and ‘Most Emerging Player of the Tournament’. He was also declared the ‘Best Fielder of the Final’ and ‘‘Best Batsman of the Final’.
Brief scores (Final):
Cricket Club of India: 216 for 9 wickets, 45 overs (Alpesh Ramjani 57, Saksham Parashar 56; Dhrumil Matkar 3 for 17, Badre Alam Khan 2 for 65) lost to Payyade Sports Club: 218 for 5 wickets, 37 overs (Musheer Khan 75, Raunaq Sharma 48*, Rohan Raje 30; Alpesh Ramjani 2 for 36, Harshal Soni 2 for 48). Result: Payyade Sports Club won by 5 wickets.
Individual awards:
Best Fielder of the Final: Mushir Naushad Khan (Payyade SC).
Best Bowler of the Final: Dhrumil Matkar (Payyade SC).
Best Batsman of the Final: Mushir Naushad Khan (Payyade SC).
Most Emerging player of the Tournament: Mushir Naushad Khan (Payyade SC).
Best Bowler of the Tournament: Badre Alam Khan (Payyade SC).
Best Batsman of the Tournament: Shubham Ranjane (Dr. D.Y. Patil SA).
Player of the Tournament: Mushir Naushad Khan (Payyade SC).
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