21st OCW-SJAN Inter-Press Cricket Begins

The Times of India outplay The Hitavada by 10 wkts

Former champions The Times of India (TOI) thrashed defending champions Hitavada by ten wickets in the 21st OCW-SJAN Inter-Press Cricket tournament, organized by the Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur in association with OCW and State Bank of India, at the Ambedkar College ground here on Thursday.

Put in to bat, Hitavada got off to a flying start but could not capitalize on it and were bundled out for 104 in 15 overs. Openers Kamlesh Waghire (49, 36b, 7x4, 1x6) and Anupam Timothy (22, 17b, 3x4, 1x6) batted well. TOI spinners Faizul Qamar (4 for 11), Vinay Pande (3-15) and Piyush Patil (2-15) shared the spoils.

Chasing a modest target, TOI romped home in style without losing any wicket. Wicketkeeper-batsman Pratik Siddharth, who smashed 34-ball 53 not out including seven fours and a six, was adjudged man-of-the-match. Fellow opener Subodh Ratnaparkhi remained unbeaten on 37 (36b, 1x6, 4x4).

Earlier, OCW CEO Sanjoy Roy inaugurated the tournament. AGMs of SBI Fanish Gupta and Mohan Changde, former Vidarbha Ranji captain Preetam Gandhe, leader of ruling party in NMC Sandeep Joshi, NMC standing committee chairman Virendra Kukreja and Anil Ahirkar were the guests of honour.

Chairman of Mumbai Press Club Dharmendra Jore gave away man-of-the-match trophy to Pratik Siddharth of TOI. SJAN president Kishor Bagde made introductory remarks. Ram Thakur conducted the proceedings and proposed a vote of thanks.

BRIEF SCORES

Hitavada 104 in 15 overs (Kamlesh Waghire 49, Anupam Timothy 22; Faizul Qamar 4-11, Vinay Pande 3-15, Piyush Patil 2-15) lost to TOI 108-0 in 11.4 overs (Pratik Siddharth 53 n.o., Subodh Ratnaparkhi 37 n.o.) by 10 wickets.

On Friday: Lokmat vs Punyanagari at Vasant Nagar ground at 9.30 am.