Tanmay, Sagar reign in low-scoring game

Published May 22

B D Narayankar

bapun@sakalherald.com

POONA CLUB: In a cricket-crazy ambience at Poona Club, you need not be at the ground to know which way the game is swinging. It’s enough, from outside, to know the match situation on hearing the screams of celebration from the members of the winning team when their bowlers had done the trick. But such was the situation that one could not miss an exciting game between Nasik Cricket Academy (NCA) and Maharashtra Club played at the ground here on Monday.

NCA trounced Maharashtra Club after asking them to chase 104 runs to win. The latter fell short by seven runs after playing all 30-stipulated overs scoring 94 runs losing 9 wickets in the Poona Club U-15 Cricket Rolling Trophy Tournament.

Barely had Maharashtra Club settled down after bowling out the opposition for a paltry 103, NCA pacer Prashant Nanthe sent back opener Naushad Sheikh for naught with a sensational delivery. Then, Waris Syed, bowling a beautiful line and length along with Nanthe, sent back Karan Sapar for zero.

That left the floodgates open for NCA bowlers to strike terror. In the midst, Anil Gugle (4), batting under tremendous pressure, ran himself out, trying to steal a single.

But, the day really belonged to NCA tweakers. They purchased five wickets between them. Left-arm spinner Tanmay Gunjal, who was troubling the batsmen early, got rid of Nikhil Dharne (3), Chandan Paranjpe (1) and Ranjeet Deshpande (4) on the trot. He finished with match figures of 3 for 16.

Right-arm leggie Sagar Thorat, on the other, got tailender Mayur Bhosale (1) and opener Suraj Maheshwari for 35.

NCA could have bowled out Maharashtra Club cheaply in the range of 60 to 65 runs, but for 33 extras, the rivals could come close to 104-runs target. Their bowlers gave away as many as 28 wides in a low-scoring game. The story does not end there, even Maharashtra Club bowlers sent down 33 wides.

Finally, the NCA batting. They had a bad start losing 4 early wickets for 7 runs. Thereafter, they fought for every run, thanks to some superb bowling display by Maharashtra Club’s Naushad Sheikh (3 for 35) and Chandan Paranjpe (3 for 16).

Parinay Shewale was the top-scorer for NCA followed by Tanmay Gunjal and Sachin Nikam 13 runs each.

SCORES: NCA 103 all out in 21.4 overs (Parinay Shewale 24, Naushad Sheikh 3 for 35, Chandan Paranjpe 3 for 16) bt Maharashtra Club Suraj Maheshwari 35, Tanmay Gunjal 3 for 16, Sagar Thorat 2 for 5).