Viraj Gamare’s quickfire 85 helps Worli win against Palghar in the Talim Shield Tournament

It was the crucial knockout match between Worli sports club and Palghar Dahanu Taluka in the Padmakar Talim Shield Cricket Tournament. It was a tricky pitch with some dew as well as some dry grass keeping both the teams guessing. However, Palghar team had won the toss and elected to field first making the most of the dew and restricting Worli sports club to a low total.

Batting first, Worli did some exceptional batting to score 359/7 in 45 overs. Skipper Kunal Mathure (who has also represented team Mumbai) scored 78 along with Nikhil Jadhav and Harshad Terwankar scoring 73 and 45* respectively. However, the man of the moment for Worli was their right handed opener Viraj Gamare who has made the opening slot his own. Viraj kept the scorecard ticking right from the first ball and scored a brilliant stroke laden 85 off just 70 balls. Gamare smashed 2 big sixes and 7 boundaries out of which backfoot cover drive was his favorite. Viraj did get a life where he was saved from a easy run-out. Gamare dominated the spinners and was quite comfortable against them in his 70 ball stay.

Chasing 360 in 45 overs is very very tough and especially against a solid bowling line up of Worli. Palghar team managed to reach only 264/8 in 45 overs and Worli won the match by 113 runs. Right handed Utkarsh from Palghar played a gem of a knock (107*) but he hardly got any support from the rest of the batsman. Right arm medium pacer Abhishek hatkar was excellent with the ball and maintained great line and length. He was the pick of the bowlers along with Sumit and Harshad terwankar who also chipped in with 2 wickets each.

It was a great team perfomance and Viraj Gamare was adjudged “man of the match” for his aggressive 85 at the top of the order. Their next match is against the powerful Shivaji Park Gymkhana and they will hope to carry their positive momentum against them.