25 December,2013 06:33 AM IST | | Sundari Iyer
Day one of the Giles Shield Elite Division matches witnessed four unbeaten centuries from Priyanshu Srivastav, Sriraj Gharat, Aryan Bangar and Shoaib Siddique at Shivaji Park and Azad Maidan yesterday. Among the bowlers, IES Raja Shivaji Vidyalaya's (Dadar) right-arm off-spinner Pranath Jadhav stood out after he bagged eight wickets to bundle out Paranjpe Vidyalaya (Andheri) for 71 runs. At the end of day's play, the Dadar school managed to score 187.
Priyanshu's 187, laced with 20 boundaries, helped Anjuman-I-Islam Allana (English) end the day at 313-6 against Hansraj Morarji.
Priyanshu, who stays with his maternal uncle in Kalyan, came to Mumbai from Lucknow to live his cricketing dreams. "It wasn't easy for me to stay away from my parents in Mumbai. I left home as an eight-year-old kid. Today's knock was special as my father (Sanjay), who has come to visit me from Lucknow, was present when I scored a ton," he said.
Meanwhile, Don Bosco's Sriraj Gharat (141') and Aryan Bangar (110') saw the Matunga school pile on 391-2 against St Xavier's Boys' Academy (Churchgate).
Aryan, son of former India cricketer Sanjay Bangar, was elated to have scored his maiden Giles Shield ton. "I have scored centuries during practice matches, but never in a tournament. I was too small when my father was playing competitive cricket. I hope that my father feels nice when I will tell him that I scored my maiden Giles Shield ton," said the 13-year-old.
Aryan's teammate Sriraj, playing his first Giles Shield match, said that his decision to switch schools from St Mary's (Uran) to Don Bosco (Matunga) has paid off. "I used to come to Shivaji Park from Uran everyday. Like many other players in the city, I never got to play in inter-school tournaments. Scoring a century on debut is special. I hope I can score a double ton tomorrow," he said.
Rizvi Springfield's Shoaib Siddique scored an unbeaten 105 to help his school post 280-6 against Cardinal Gracias (Bandra). At Azad Maidan, defending champions Al-Barkaat MMI's (Kurla) Rithik Sharma (4-3) and Mateen Shaikh (3-5) ensured that they bundle out Fatima High School for 38 runs. At close of play, the Kurla team were 193-6. u00a0