Mandavgade slams unbeaten ton in Tarun Bharat's win

On Monday: The Hitavada vs Punyanagari at Central Railway ground, Ajni (9 am); Lokmat vs Loksatta at Dr Ambedkar College ground, Deekshabhoomi (9 am).

Pics courtesy -- S Sudarshan

Dropping Tarun Bharat’s opening batsman Abhijeet Mandavgade proved costly to Times of India as the opener scored an unbeaten ton to give Tarun Bharat their first win in the 11th Orange City Hospital Cup inter-press cricket tournament organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur (SJAN) at Central Railway ground, Ajni.

It was a close win for Tarun Bharat as Times of India gave a tough fight to them losing the match by just six runs. Tarun Bharat scored 164 runs in 20. Man of the match Mandavgade was dropped in the first over by ToI wicket-keeper Yogesh Banait off Mangesh Meshram on zero. Grabbing the opportunity, the wicket-keeper batsman slammed the first ton of the tournament with the help of 10 balls to the fence and four over it.

For ToI, Mangesh Meshram took two wickets while Suraj Nair and Sandeep Dabhekar took one each. Chasing 165 in 20 overs, ToI scored at a brisk rate scoring 80 of first 9 overs. But their wickets kept on falling at regular. Yogesh Banait was the top scorer with 35 runs while Subodh Ratnaparki scored 23 and Sandeep Vardhane added 20. Niladri Dey remained unbeaten on 17. For Tarun Bharat veteran Arvind Kawle was the pick of the bowlers taking four wickets while Vikas Barokar took two.

In another match, Sakaal recorded their first win against Punyanagari. Nikhil Gotmare’s agile efforts helped Sakaal chase down a mammoth 155 runs target and record their first win. Manoj Zaria’s (40) fine effort with the bat and an unbeaten 19-ball 36 runs by Manish Gadekar towards the end resulted in Punyanagari posting 154 for seven in their 20 overs. Sarang Chavan (30) also played a well compiled innings. Avishkar Deshmukh was the pick of the bowlers for Sakaal picking up four wickets for 22 runs while Om Dhakulkar and Naresh Shelke pocketed a couple of wickets each.

In reply, Sakaal responded with a fascinating run-chase with the top-order batsmen getting runs. Gotmare (57*; 36b, 4x4, 3x6) with his half-century lead from the front putting up two crucial partnerships, first with Kishor Jamkar and the other with Avishkar Deshmukh to give his team a win with an over to spare. Shrikant Bhalerao (2-35) and Kantaram Nawale (2-22) checked Sakaal’s run-chase.

(Courtesy The Hitavada)

(pics S Sudarshan)

Nikhil Gotmare of Sakaal in action.

(pic courtesy Sakaal)