Petit enter semis

PUNE, Nov 30: Middle-order batsman Rohit Lokhande's well-timed half-century and an impressive spell of three for 21 saw J N Petit school ...

PUNE, Nov 30: Middle-order batsman Rohit Lokhande8217;s well-timed half-century and an impressive spell of three for 21 saw J N Petit school sail into the semi-finals of the Pudumjee Shield senior inter-school cricket tournament with a convincing 92-runs victory over Ornellas High School at the Anglo Urdu school ground, here today.

An avid athlete and a divisional footballer, the right-handed batsman Rohit gave a hard time to Ornellas with his swashbuckling knock of 50, after the opponents enjoyed early success. Batting first, Petit lost openers Azim and Piran cheaply. While Azim failed to open his account, Piran Gandhi too fell soon after scoring just two runs. Thereafter, the next batsmen Abhijit Ovhal and Shrikant Gawli did manage to steady the Petit innings. However, they too could not stand for long in the middle.

Rohit, walking in next, handled the crises situation very well. Realising the need of the hour, the tenth standard student put his head down, keeping the scoreboard ticking with singles and doubles.

Khushroo Mahershai, a lower-order batsman gave a further thrust to the total with a flamboyant 48. A gifted 51-runs by way of extras also saw their total cross the two hundred mark, ending at 206 in 38 overs. Sarfaraz Sayyed was the most successful bowler for Ornellas claiming two for nine in his two overs spell.

In reply, Ornellas batsmen, however, put up a miserable performance with only three among them reaching double figures. But for Rizwan Khan 39 and Imran Baig 24, most of them found the going difficult against tight bowling by Rohit and Geve Dehenugara. Both claimed three wickets apiece to stop Ornellas at 114 in 28.1 overs. Rohit was adjudged Man-of-the-Match for his efforts.

Azim Golandez, later, managed to cover up to his batting failure by scalping two wickets for 20 in 5.1 overs, while Piran Gandhi chipped in with one wickets for 16 runs.

Brief Scores
J N Petit: 206 for 9 in 38 overs Rohit Lokhande 50, Khusroo Mahershai 48, Shrikant Gawli 27, Abhijit Ovhal 24, Sarfaraz Sayyed 2/9, Shoaib Khan 1/31, Pramod Kamble 1/15, Rizwan Khan 1/27, Dinesh M 1/28, Imran Baig 1/15, Asif Shaikh 1/9 bt Ornelas High School: 114 in 28.1 overs Rizwan Khan 39, Imran Baig 24, Allen D8217;Souza 13, Rohit Lokhande 3/21, Gave Dehenugara 3/20, Azim Golandaz 2/20, Piran Gandhi 1/16. Man-of-the-Match: Rohit Lokhande. Result: J N Petit won by 92 runs.