Last year's runners-up IES New English (Bandra) lose to IES Secondary School (Mulund) by three wickets in dramatic second-round upset at Azad Maidan
IES offie Siddhanth Velankar and skipper Aditya Parab celebrate their win over IES New English School at Azad Maidan. Pics/Subodh Mayure
In a major upset, former champions and last year's runners-up IES New English School (Bandra) crashed out of the U-16 Harris Shield inter-school cricket tournament in the second round itself, losing by three wickets to IES Secondary School (Mulund) at Azad Maidan on Wednesday.
Chasing a modest target of 106, Mulund batsmen—Soham Davne and Vedant Haridas—started off well, stitching a 41-run opening partnership. However, the Bandra school's skipper and off-spinner Manan Bhatt first sent back Soham (18), followed by Vedant (18) in quick succession, threatening to turn things around.
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The Mulund side were in further trouble at 52 for four. A casual approach while running between the wickets cost the Mulund side another two wickets, as Heramb Karbhari (0) and Tejas Moreya (10) failed to drag their bats into the crease in time to beat the sharp throws of Manan and Aditya Lokhande respectively.
Manan's efforts in vain
Manan bowled well to finish with 5-31 but it was not enough as IES Secondary skipper and No. 6 batsman Aditya Parab's unbeaten 39 (5x4) saw the Mulund boys through in the end.
Earlier, IES New English's off-spinner Siddhant Velankar (6-44) and Atharva Minde (3-14) bowled brilliantly to dismiss the Bandra boys for just 106 in 39 overs. Jeevan Karlekar (29) and Manan (17) were the top scorers for the losing team.
"Though we lost a few quick wickets initially, I was confident of chasing the target. I just focused on what our coach [Sulakshan] Kulkanri sir says. He always insists that we play in front of the wicket and in the 'V' as much as possible as most of the balls tend to keep low. I did that and it helped," said IES Secondary skipper Aditya told mid-day.
IES Mulund's coach Abhishek Angane admitted his boys got a tad over-confident. "We never expected to be out of the tournament at this stage but whatever has happened is good because some players were over-confident. We will work hard and make a strong comeback next year," he said.
Anuj stars for Scottish
Bombay Scottish's Anuj Giri
In another match, Bombay Scottish School (Mahim) rode on an all-round show from captain Anuj Giri (108 and 6-22) to beat Balmohan Vidyamandir English (Dadar) by 185 runs at Cross Maidan. In response to the Mahim school's 259-6, the Dadar side were bundled out for just 74.
At Oval Maidan, Ayush Bidwai (111 and 6-76) helped Fatima High School (Vidyavihar) beat Atomic Energy Central School Anushakti Nagar by 35 runs.
Abhinav, the victors!
Tuesday's Harris Shield inter-school cricket match between St Xavier's High School (Borivli) and Abhinav Vidya Mandir (Borivli) was won by Abhinav via toss of the coin after both teams were bowled out for 103. The headline inadvertently said the reverse. The error is regretted.
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