Raunaq, Arvind & Puneet : A match full of performances between Parsee Gymkhana & Sind Sports Club of the Young Comrade Shield Tournament
It was the 2nd round knock-out match between two strong teams namely Parsee Gymkhana & Sind Sports Club at the Parsee Gymkhana Ground, in Marine Lines Mumbai. Parsee Gymkhana who have a strong batting line up elected to put the opposition under pressure and bowl first and restrict them to a low score.
Batting first, SSC were not off to the best starts as both their openers Khushal shah & Harsh Tank lost their wickets early. However, there was some respite as their no.3 batsman Puneet Tripathi scored a sublime 82 off just 102 balls. Puneet looked hardly affected by any of the bowlers & was quite solid and confident at the crease. Puneet smashed 9 fours & 2 sixes in his 102 ball stay at the crease & also created a good partnership with Parthiv Mehta who also scored a valiant half century (51, 5 fours)) off 95 balls. Their skipper Raunaq Sharma was leading from the front with bowling figures of 4/56 in his 15.3 overs. Right arm leg spinner Raunaq bowled really well and also got good support from Bhavin desai and Manish Rao who took 2 wickets each. SSC were all out for 274 in 67.3 overs and gave a decent target for Parsee Gymkhana to chase.
Chasing 275, Parsee Gymkhana were at one struggling with 4 wickets down under 50 runs including their in-form opener Bravish Shetty who did not open his account with the bat. However, Raunaq still had that mojo inside him and did not gave up till the very end. It was definitely one of the best knocks of the tournament as their skipper at no.5 went on to score a blazing 158 off just 138 balls. Raunaq Sharma was outright entertaining and smashing the ball with authority which included 14 glorious fours and 7 big sixes to infuse life back to their chase. However, Raunaq gave away his wicket at the last moment when only 18 runs were needed & they lost the match by just 8 runs. Had he got some support from the other end, this could well have been one of the best chases in the recent times. Right arm medium pacer Arvind Patel was the pick of the bowlers taking 7/61 in 17.4 overs. Arvind was very effective with the ball & kept on taking wickets at regular intervals including the crucial wickets of the opposition skipper Raunaq Sharma who was batting on 158.
Arvind Patel completed playing the match despite he losing a dear member of his family while the match was on. His father encouraged him to complete the match & he certainly gave his best despite all the drawbacks. His performance is certainly a dedication towards his loved ones & the one whom he lost.
Sind Sports Club won the match by 7 runs and players Raunaq Sharma, Arvind Patel and Puneet Tripathi were collectively adjudged ‘man of the match’ for their brilliant individual performances. All in all, it was a great match which held everybody’s nerves till the end & Cricketgraph wishes all the three players and both the teams to keep performing in the same way.
