Thakur, Tiwarekar dazzle

MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 23: Centurion Swapnoj Thakur and Vishal Tiwarekar made light of Springfield's total of 210, when they put on 173 runs fo...

MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 23: Centurion Swapnoj Thakur and Vishal Tiwarekar made light of Springfield8217;s total of 210, when they put on 173 runs for the first wicket to steer last year8217;s runners-up IES V N Sule Guruji into the final of the Kellogg8217;s Inter-School cricket tournament 45 overs, conducted by the Mumbai Schools Sports Association at the Bombay Gymkhana, today.

Sule Guruji, who beat Springfield by nine wickets, will now meet Shardashram English in the final on Wednesday, March 3 at the Bombay Gymkhana.Springfield were struggling at 52 for three after opting to bat first. However, the fourth wicket pair of southpaw Pushkar Kalyankar 20 and Amarnath Rai added 76 runs before Rai was leg before to leg-spinner Rohan Amladi for a well-made 54 off 57 balls with two sixes and five hits to the ropes.

Thereafter, Springfield lost their wickets at regular intervals and were 151 for eight. The ninth wicket pair of Ashish Gupta 35, 4215;3 and Amit Yadav 24 n.o carried the total to 202 before Gupta was stumped bySagar Dharankar off Amit Patil.

Amladi was the pick of the bowlers with 5-59 in 15.5 overs, while medium pacer Markesh Bhatt, who gave the early break through, took 2-26 in five overs.

In reply, the Sule Guruji openers, chasing a none-too-big total, stuck to their task and kept the score moving by taking singles and twos. But they did not lose the opportunity to punish the bad balls.

Thakur, who played good shots on both sides of the wicket, reached his first 50 in 60 balls and his century in just 80 balls. His knock of 105 had 16 fours, while Tiwarekar8217;s unbeaten 74 was studded with seven fours and a six off medium pacer Amit Yadav.

After the exit of Thakur, captain Vineet Indulkar 18 n.o. joined Tiwarekar and coasted their side to a nine-wicket victory with 6.3 overs to spare.

Brief scores:

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Springfield 210 in 42.5 overs Amarnath Rai 54, Ashish Gupta 35; Rohan Amladi 5-59 lost to IES V N Sule Guruji 211-1 in 38.3 overs Swapnoj Thakur 105, Vishal Tiwarekar 74 n.o.. MoM: Swapnoj Thakur.