CHANDIGARH, May 3: Oriental Insurance Corporation pipped Punjab National Bank by three runs in a nail biting final to be crowned champions in the Inter-Bank/Financial Institutions cricket tournament organised by Central Bank of India at the DAV College ground today.Sandeep Mahajan was the star player for OIC. He hit 69 runs and then captured four wickets for his side as PNB, chasing OIC's 189, faltered after a brilliant start by Anil Sharma (75) and Subodh (53). Their late order batsmen wilted under pressure and fell short by three runs.Earlier, OIC were propped up by Sandeep's fine knock, equally supported by Hemant Puri who remained unbeaten with 45. Sandeep in particular was in good nick today, playing his strokes with gay abandon.S R Krishnan, DGM Central Bank distributed the prizes. Sandeep Mahajan was the best batsman and the man of the final, Manoj best bowler and Sanjay Bhatia was the man of the series.Scores: OIC: 189 for 9 (Sandeep Mahajan 69, Hemant Puri 45 n.o., Anil Sharma 2-32, Subodh 2-30, Paramjit 2-29) beat PNB: 186 (Anil Sharma 75, Subodh 53, Rajesh Kalia 19, Sandeep Mahajan 4-25, Dinesh Gupta 2-35).City cricketers excelMalviya Club, Delhi, represented by the city cricketers, won the Thailand Sixes tournament at Huain, near Bangkok recently.The team of Ajay Bhatia, Vikram Sharma, Barjinder Sharma, Munish Sharma, Rakesh Dogra, Parveen Sharma and Vishal Gupta also finished runner-up in the Royal Bangkok International Cricket Sixes tournament at Bangkok.Playing under the Delhi Club's patronage, the team lost in the final of the Bangkok tourney to Tom Boys, Australia by two runs. In the other tourney at Huain, they were the clear winners, beating the local side by three wickets. Ajay Bhatia, of Customs and Central Excise, Chandigarh was declared the best batsman in the Huain championship.Scores: Bangkok Sixes tourney: Tom Boys, Australia: 81 for 5 in 5 overs (Jack 29, Munish 2-10) beat Malviya: 79 for 5 (Ajay Bhatia 26, Vikram 30 (retd), Rakesh Dogra 18).Huain tourney: Huain XI: 80 for 5 (Nicholas 21, Alec 28) lost to Malviya: 82 for 2 (Ajay Bhatia 30 (retd), Vikram 30, Parveen 16).
