Vishal not overcome

MUMBAI, FEB 3: A 25-run victory looks like a snug pillow in the final analysis, but Shardashram had to crush a few thorns before achievin...

MUMBAI, FEB 3: A 25-run victory looks like a snug pillow in the final analysis, but Shardashram had to crush a few thorns before achieving that in the final of the Kelloggs Super Cup inter-school Under-16 cricket tournament at Bombay Gymkhana today.

One of those thorns was called Vishal Tivrekar. The right-hand IES VN Sule opening bat had a start that can best be described as subdued 8212; he blocked six overs before scoring his first run. Perhaps, that was the IES gameplan 8212; attack from one end, defend from another. For in the presence of the fluent Swapnoj Thakur 24 off 28 balls and the aggressive Vinit Indulkar 31 off 42 balls, Vishal appeared like he was sleeping at the crease.

But after the fall of the fourth wicket at 134, with 103 yet needed in 15 overs, Vishal got cracking. Two sixes and eight fours flowed from his willow, as IES added 68 in the next 10 overs. The best money was on IES. But when he fell, 25 runs short of the target, the IES innings folded up before you could saykamikaze.

Vishal8217;s 92-run knock 115b, 8215;4, 2215;6 however fetched him the man of the match prize.

For Shardashram, the honours for the day were shared by opener Sandesh Amrute, all-rounder Abhishek Nayar, and off-spinners Amit Patkar and Sameer Shaikh. Amrute scored a patient unbeaten 88 121b, 5215;4; Nayar, who got the man of the series award, hit a quick 46 46b, 4215;4 while adding 51 in the last five overs with Amrute, Patkar claimed 5-50 and bowled unchanged in the slog overs, while Shaikh claimed two wickets in a tight opening spell, and brought off a stunning catch diving to his right at short midwicket, to get rid off Sagar Dharankar. But it was Patkar who came in for praise from coach Naresh Churi. 8220;He bowled a tight line, and is always difficult to hit in the slog overs.8221; Churi said the wicket, a bit underprepared, was conducive to spin and a target of 237 was always going to be difficult. 8220;But Vishal Tivrekar almost took the match away from us,8221; Churi admitted.

Chairman of selection committeeAjit Wadekar, former Shardashram player Vinod Kambli, and Mumbai southpaw Jatin Paranjpe were among those who gave away prizes. Kambli joked, 8220;It is good to see Shardashram win again,, and we must thank coach Achrekar Sir for this. In my days, I was always the lazy student while Sachin was the sincere guy.8221; Message: See the difference.

Scoreboard

Shardashram: Sandesh Amrute not out 88, Girish Vaswani lbw Amladi 52, Pranab Chavan ct Dharankar b Amladi 5, Abhishek Nayar c Dharankar b Shetty 46, Pradosh Mayekar not out 7. Extras b3, lb1, nb1, w33: 38. Total for three wickets 236.

Fall Of Wickets: 1-129, 2-135, 3-225.

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Bowling: Saijit Shetty 10-1-44-1, Markesh Bhatt 5-0-27-0, Abhijit Pavaskar 4-0-23-0, Rohan Amladi 13-0-63-2, Amit Patil 9-1-48-0, Prathamesh Bhingarde 4-0-27-0.

IES VN Sule: Swapnoj Thakur b Shaikh 24, Vishal Tivrekar c Mayekar b Patkar 92, Vinit Indulkar c Chavan b Shaikh 31, Amit Patil b Patkar 13, Sagar Dharankar c Shaikh b Patkar 0, RohanSadarjoshi st Mayekar b Patkar 5, Markesh Bhatt run out 9, Prathamesh Bhingarde b Patkar 2, Rohan Amladi b Nayar 0, Saijit Shetty run out 0, Abhishek Pavaskar not out 0. Extras 4b, 10lb, 21w: 35. Total all out 211.

Fall Of Wickets: 1-48, 2-106, 3-134, 4-134, 5-179, 6-202,, 7-211, 8-211, 9-211.

Bowling: Abhishek Nayar 6.2-0-24-1, Karan Nande 2-0-10-0, Brian Fredericks 2-0-14-0, Amit Patkar 14-2-50-5, Sameer Shaikh 13-1-68-2, Pranab Chavan 6-0-31-0.