Umrigar XI win Express Trophy

MUMBAI, OCT 15: Polly Umrigar XI lads showed enough grit and gumption when it mattered most and walked away with the top honours of the C...

MUMBAI, OCT 15: Polly Umrigar XI lads showed enough grit and gumption when it mattered most and walked away with the top honours of the Close-Up Indian Express under-19 limited overs tournament which concluded at the Brabourne Stadium this evening. Umrigar XI upstaged Ravi Shastri XI by three wickets on the penultimate ball of the summit clash.

Chasing a target of 245 in the alloted 45 overs, the winners were well-served by skipper Vinayak Mane 55, Onkar Khanvilkar 69, Aziz Shaikh 32, Abhijit Shetye 28 and Agam Pandit 26 not out as they crossed the finish line to the delight of ex-Indian skipper Polly Umrigar.

Earlier, deciding to make the first use of the track after winning the toss, Shastri XI skipper Vijay Singh 67 led from the front forging an opening stand of 53 with Prasad Manjrekar 8 and then raised 63 runs for the third wicket with Arjun Mistry 22. Rohit Bhalla 31, who was forced to retire owing to dehydration, Wilkin Mota 43 and Prathmesh Athawle 37 not out brought up the rear in fine fashion to set a healthy target.

Barring left-arm spinner Shakti Prasad 3-44, who was adjudged the Sportstar Trophy player of the tournament yesterday, none of the other bowlers could make an impact on the rival batsmen.

In reply, Umrigar XI were in trouble having lost two early wickets with 21 runs on the board. However, skipper Mane held the innings together with fruitful alliances. Mane and Shaikh strung a 50-run partnership for the third wicket and after the latter8217;s departure, the Umrigar XI skipper found an able ally in Khanvilkar while joining hands for a 56-run partnership. But Mane8217;s dismissal in the 26th over slowed the run-rate as Khanvilkar and wicket-keeper Shetye went about doing the repair job adding 59 runs for the fifth wicket. And when Khanvilkar departed trying to force the pace, the target seemed to be a tall order with victory another 59 runs away off 46 balls.

But Pandit, who had been wayward with ball giving away 14 wides, made amends by realising 35 valuable runs off 26 balls for the seventh wicket with the Ashish Dabholkar 15. Though Dabholkar was run out on the first ball of the last over, Vaibhav Dhokre 8 not out knocked off two boundaries to settle the issue.

The Mumbai Cricket Association selectors awarded the man of the match award worth Rs 5000 to Khanvilkar.

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The prize distribution function of the event will be held on October 24 Sunday alongwith the Loksatta under-16 limited overs tournament which will conclude on the same date.

SCOREBOARD

RAVI SHASTRI XI

Prasad Manjrekar st Shetye b Prasad 8 36b, 54m, 1215;4

Vijay Singh lbw b Prasad 67 67b, 113m, 6215;4

Manish Rawre c Shetye b Prasad 5 11b, 7m, 1215;4

Arjun Mistry run out Aziz Shaikh 22 47b, 52m, 3215;4

Rohit Bhalla retired 31 35b, 48m, 1215;4

Wilkin Mota st Shetye b Shaikh 43 45b, 35m, 4215;4

Prathmesh Athawle not out 37 21b, 23m, 3215;4, 1215;6

Shripad Sansare not out 6 9b, 9m

Extras: lb1, nb1, w23 25

Total: for five wickets in 45 overs 244

Fall of wickets: 1-53 Manjrekar, 2-61 Rawre, 3-124 Vijay, 4-124 Mistry, 5-187 Mota.

Bowling: Surendra Yadav 9-1-44-0 4w; Agam Pandit 4-0-25-0 1nb, 14w, Onkar Khanvilkar 8-0-47-0 3w, Shakti Prasad 9-1-44-3, Vaibhav Dhokre 7-0-27-0 1w, Aziz Shaikh 8-0-56-1 1w

POLLY UMRIGAR XI

Vinayak Mane c Bhatkar b Sansare 55 73b, 99m, 4215;4

Rubesh Kumar run out Sansare 1 6b, 15m

Pankaj Moraskar lbw b Ganpule 0 1b, 1m

Aziz Shaikh b Vijay Singh 32 27b, 33m, 4215;4

Onkar Khanvilkar c Rawre b Bhatkar 69 83b, 90m, 7215;4

Abhijit Shetye c Sansare b Bhalla 28 43b, 53m, 1215;4

Agam Pandit not out 26 21b, 34m, 1215;4

Ashish Dabholkar run out Ganpule 15 12b, 19m, 2215;4

Vaibhav Dhokre not out 8 4b, 3m, 2215;4

Extras: 2b, 5lb, 1nb, 6w 14

Total: for seven wickets in 44.5 overs 248

Fall of wickets: 1-17 Rubesh, 2-21 Moraskar, 3-71 Shaikh, 4-127 Mane, 5-186 Khanvilkar, 6-205 Shetye, 7-240 Dabholkar.

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Bowling: Rohan Ganpule 6-1-27-1, Prathmesh Athawle 8.5-0-53-0 1nb, 2w, Wilkin Mota 5-0-40-0 1w, Siddarth Bhatkar 9-0-37-1 2w, Vijay Singh 5-0-26-1 1w, Shripad Sansare 9-0-46-1, Rohit Bhalla 2-0-12-1.

Result: Polly Umrigar XI won by three wickets.

Man of the Match: Onkar Khanvilkar.