Route Mobile wins the all-important Thane Vaibhav Finals on the back of great team perfomance & Akhtar Shaikh’s crucial 50

Played at the Central Maidan, Thane, it was the all-important finale of the A Div of the Thane Vaibhav Tournament 2018 where in Greater Mumbai Police won the toss and elected to bat first considering they have a good batting line up to chase.

Made to bat first, Route Mobile did a fairly decent job as they notched up a healthy score of 238/9 in 35 overs which is anyday defendable. Even though they did felt the early jitters losing some quick wickets at the top, Dinar Gaonkar at no.4 chipped in with 30 while talented Akhtar Shaikh at no.5 made all the difference coming up with a very crucial 50 off just 40balls(6fours, 2sixes). Akhtar succeeded in changing the momentum as he looked really good and confident against the bowlers while Tanush Kotian and Sachin Gill chipped in with handy contributions of 38runs each at the lower middle order which eventually took their team total to a very defendable score.

Chasing 239 in 210 balls is not the easiest of tasks and that too in a finals of any tournament and Mumbai Police must have felt the pressure of chasing at almost 7runs per over as they were all-out for 183runs in 28.2 overs where middle order bat Shrikant Limbole top scored with 48.  Vishal Dhagaonkar who has been consistent throughout the tournament once again delivered in the finals taking 3wkts for just 2runs while Siddarth and Hitesh Parmar also taking 2wkts each. Route Mobile eventually won the finals on the back of excellent team perfomance by 55runs and lift the prestigious Thane Vaibhav Trophy with pride.

CRICKETGRAPH