Saturday, January 17, 2009

Nikhil Dixit the saviour for Hitavada


Talk about ‘crisis men’ and The Hitavada’s Nikhil Dixit fits the bill to the hilt. The portly all-rounder came up with another superb rescue act as The Hitavada prevailed over Loksatta by four wickets in a heart-stopping run chase at Central Railways ground, Ajni. The Super Six round of the 11th Orange City Hospital Cup Inter-Press Cricket Tournament organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur (SJAN) saw The Hitavada and defending champions Lokmat taking a step towards the semi-final spots. Lokmat thrashed Sakaal by 77 runs.
The Hitavada bowlers again came up with a fine performance to restrict Loksatta to 128. Opener Ravi Daff made a fighting 52 in 46 balls (7x4, 1x6) while Devendra Sadawarti hung on for his unbeaten 49 (46b, 5x4).
Medium-pacers Vijay Choure (2-16) and Vivek Wate (1-17) bowled fine spells. Nikhil Dixit (1-13) and left-arm spinner Ramamurti Nerle (1-16) kept things tight for Loksatta.
The Hitavada’s chase took a disastrous turn when they lost three wickets in four balls. By the fifth over it seemed a lost cause with just 23 on board. Nikhil Dixit was not done though. He found a supporter in Sanjay Chinchole (20; 33b, 2x4) and the duo slowly started the repairing job.
Runs were coming at premium against Loksatta’s confident bowling. As the asking rate started reaching the double figures Dixit launched a counter-attack. Picking up Uday Rangnath’s off-spin over the fence twice in one over Man of the Match Dixit collected 17 off it.
After Chinchole, Choure (14) helped Dixit keep up the momentum with some quick running. By the time the exhausted Dixit returned back after making a superb 53 (36b, 2x4, 3x6) the target had come down to 12 from 10 balls.
Hitesh Limbachia (10*) and Paritosh Pramanik sealed the game as The Hitavada made 132 for six in 19.2 overs.
In another match Lokmat piled up 193 for four in 20 overs. Man of the Match Sharad Mishra (68*; 7x4) and Pawan Dhande (61*; 3x4, 2x6) were the run getters.
Sakaal managed only 116 for nine in 20 overs. Kishor Jamkar made 34.

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