Raich takes hat-trick as Punyanagari oust Bhaskar

YUDHISHTIR Raich (3-0-10-3) claimed first hat-trick of the 15th edition as ‘Punyanagari’ thrashed ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ by 10 wickets in the ongoing SJAN-OCHRI Inter-Press Invitational T20 Cricket Tournament organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur.

                                                Yudhistir Raich

Suhas Nayse

With their second loss, ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ became the first team to get ousted from the tournament.
Electing to bat first at Dr Ambedkar College ground, ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ got off to a worst start as they lost three quick wickets in first four overs. ‘Punyanagari’s’ Avishkar Deshmukh rattled the top order taking three wickets for 20 runs from three overs. Raich then cleaned up the tail as ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ managed to crawl to 69 runs in 12.5 overs.
In reply, ‘Punyanagari’ achieved the target in 7.2 overs without losing any wicket. Opener Ravi Daf scored an unbeaten half century (51) from 28 balls. He hit 10 four and a six. Vaibhav Sonwane too remained undefeated on 20.
In another match played at Vasant Nagar ground, Suhas Nayse’s fine half century (59) helped ‘Times of India’ beat ‘Loksatta’ by 121 runs. Batting first, ‘Times of India’ posted 187 runs from 20 overs. Man of the match Nayse slammed five boundaries in his 53-ball innings. Piyush Patil (22; 10b; 2x4; 1x6), Rupesh Bhaik (24; 12b; 5x4) and Faisal Qamar (23; 11b; 2x4; 2x6) were the other notable scorers.
For ‘Loksatta’, Anirudha Pande, Pawan Kursunge and Balmukund Kadwe took two wickets each.
In reply, ‘Loksatta’ managed to gather only 66 runs before being bundled out for 66 in 16.2 overs. Only Kursunge (13), Datir (10) and Pramod Pardhi (10) managed to reach double figures. For the winners, Qamar took three wickets for 15 runs while Bhaik, Sandeep Dabhekar and Umesh Tekade took one each.
On Thursday: ‘The Hitavada’ vs ‘Lokmat’ at Dr Ambedkar College ground; ‘Sakal’ vs ‘Loksatta’ at Vasant Nagar ground.