Bhatnagar claims day8217;s honours

MUMBAI, OCT 16: The Tatas pace battery of Ajit Agarkar, Subroto Banerjee, Sandeep Dahad and Sriram Kannan proved more than a handful for ...

MUMBAI, OCT 16: The Tatas pace battery of Ajit Agarkar, Subroto Banerjee, Sandeep Dahad and Sriram Kannan proved more than a handful for Western Railway at the Police Gymkhana this morning. The pace quartet shared eight wickets between themselves to skittle out the railmen for 132 in 44.2 overs.

The batsmen then complimented their bowlers8217; efforts as Tatas gained control on the opening day of their three-day Times Shield A Division encounter.

The 20-year-old Kannan edged out his famed rivals clinching three wickets for 43 runs while Agarkar returning to a cricket match after a long lay-off, had to be content with 1-22. Wicket-keeper Abhijit Shetye too had something to shout about with five victims to his credit.

Nikhil Patwardhan 52: 7215;4 was the only batsman to put up some resistance for Western Railway. Though Tatas suffered an early setback when new recruit and Bengal opener Nikhil Haldipur was dismissed early, Nishit Shetty 64: 12215;4 retrieved the alongwith Manoj Joglekar 23 and skipper LalchandRajput batting 29 situation as Tatas reached 145-3 at close.

However, it was Central Railway8217;s Sarvesh Bhatnagar batting 136: 215b, 297m, 19215;4, 1215;6 who claimed the day8217;s honours of the competition. Bhatnagar and new recruit from Mumbai Division Mobin Shaikh 46 pulled the side out of trouble by stringing a 130-run stand as C Rly logged a healthy 292-6 at close against Indian Oil Corporation at MiG Club, Bandra. It was some consolation for the railmen who had suffered a setback earlier in the day when pace spearhead Santosh Saxena was ruled out of the match owing to the sudden demise of his elder brother.

RCF Sports Club were in dire straits hosting Sun-Grace Mafatlal at their ground. Left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar claimed four wickets as RCF were bowled out for 118. Kaushik Aphale 64 was the only batsmen to fight it In reply, Sun-Grace were well-placed at 133-1.

Defending champions Elf Lubricants meandered to 201-5 against Air-India with skipper Jatin Paranjape 52 being the topscorer atElf-Vengsarkar Academy.

Brief Scores

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Group A: Elf Lubricants 201-5 in 84.2 overs Maroof Khan 35, Jatin Paranjape 52, Amol Muzumdar 36; Preetam Gandhe 2-61 vs Air-India

Western Railway 132 Nikhil Patwardhan 52; Ajit Agarkar 1-22, Sriram Kannan 3-43, Subroto Banerjee 2-14, Sandeep Dahad 2-26 vs Tata Sports Club 145-3 Manoj Joglekar 23, Nishit Shetty 64, Lalchand Rajput batting 29, Agarkar batting 18

Group B: Central Railway 292-6 in 89 overs Sarvesh Bhatnagar batting 136, Mobin Shaikh 46; Amit Dani 2-47, Hemant Kinikar 2-24 vs Indian Oil

RCF Sports Club 118 Kaushik Aphale 66; Rajesh Pawar 4-40, Robin Morris 2-17, Omkar Salvi 2-22 vs Sun-Grace Mafatlal 133-1 Praful Dhule batting 59, Amit Pagnis 47