Abhishek excels in Lokshahi Varta win

By Nilesh Deshpande

Abhishek Kulkarni displayed all-round performance (63 runs, 4 wickets)  as Lokshahi Varta defeated Sakal by 23 runs in the last league match fo 17th Allahabad Bank- SJAN Inter-Press Cricket Tournament organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur (SJAN) at Vasant Nagar ground on Friday. 

Batting first, Lokshahi Varta piled up 173 for five in 20 overs. Left-handed Kulkarni played a brilliant knock of 63 hitting seven boundaries. Sumit Vishwakarma scored quickfire 49. For Sakal, Sachin Belwalkar and Rajesh Vyavhare got two wickets each. 

In reply, despite Pankaj Borkar's fighting 71, Sakal were restricted to 150 for six. Experienced Jamkar contributed 23.  Batting hero Kulkarni bowled well and captured four wickets. He was declared man-of-the-match for all-round performance. 

On January 12, first semi-final will be played between Lokmat and  The Hitavada at Ambedkar College at 9.30 a.m. followed by second semi-final between Punyanagari and  The Times of India on January 13 at the same venue. 

Amar Sports has sponsored Wisden white balls for the tournament.  

Brief scores:

Lokshahi Varta: 173 for 5 in 20 overs [Abhishek Kulkarni  63 (60b, 7x4), Sumit Vishwakarma 49 (30b, 8x4), Abhay Dube 13 not out, Sachin Belwalkar 2 for 28, Rajesh Vyavhare 2 for 32). 

Sakal: 150 for 6 in 20 overs (Pankaj Borkar (71, 53b, 1x6, 11x4), Kishor Jamkar 27 (3x4), Abhishek Kulkarni 4 for 27). 

Result: Lokshahi Varta won by 23 runs

MoM: Abhishek Kulkarni. 

 (All pics SJAN/S Sakharkar)