Vijay Manjrekar XI scored an outright victory over Dattu Phadkar XI by a margin of eight wickets on the third and final day of the 25th Sportstar Trophy MCA U-19 selection trial cricket tournament.
The outcome resulted in both teams tied on points (10 from three games) in the four-team league at the end of three rounds, Manjrekar XI was declared champion on the basis of Rule 22 in MCA Model Rules & Playing Conditions 2010, which stipulates that in case of equal points and victories, winner of the league tie between the two is declared the winner.
After seizing the initiative by way of a 12-runs first innings lead, a dominant show from Manjrekar XI slow bowlers Pratik Gawli (5-65) and Pankaj Gadade (4-35) gained restricted Phadkar XI to 146 in the second innings.
Chasing a victory target of 135, opener Siddharth Muley (60 not out, 138 balls, 5x4) and middle-order batsman Siddharth Adhatrao (43 not out, 31 balls, 6x4, 1x6) got cracking as Manjrekar XI coasted home in 40.2 overs at Fort Vijay ground, Azad Maidan. Gawli was named ‘man of match' for his decisive show.
Manjrekar XI and Phadkar XI were tied on 10 points, followed by Khandu Rangenkar XI (eight) and Vijay Merchant XI (one). Rangnekar XI picked up three points via first innings lead in a drawn game against Merchant XI at the Total Vengsarkar Academy, Oval Maidan.
Merchant XI's Neelkanth Parab produced an outstanding performance as leader, batsman and wicket-keeper to be named the ‘Player of the Tournament'. He scored 226 runs and snared six victims behind the wickets in two league games.
Individual awards: Player of Tournament : Neelkanth Parab (226 runs, six victims, two matches); Best All-rounder : Akarshit Gomel (204 runs, three wkts, two matches).
Best batsman : Shashank Singh (247 runs, two matches, highest score 154); Best bowler : Mairaj Khan (17 wkts, three matches); Best bowler (pace) : Pratik Dabolkar; Best bowler (spin) : Mairaj Khan.
Best wicket-keeper and Best fielder : Sumit Ghadigaonkar (seven catches, four stumpings, two matches). Man of match awards : Aditya Dhumal, Mairaj Khan, Shashank Singh, Badre Alam, Pratik Dabolkar, Pratik Gawli.
Brief scores : Dattu Phadkar XI 124 & 146 (Sanket Yadav 23, Chetan Jadhav 29, Nachiket Sant 29; Pratik Gawli 5-65, Pankaj Gadade 4-35) lost to Vijay Manjrekar XI 136 & 137-2 in 40.2 overs (Siddhanth Muley 60 no, Siddharth Adhatrao 43 n.o.) at Fort Vijay, Azad Maidan.
Vijay Merchant XI 115 & 184 (Akash Parkar 37, Ankit Jaiswal 34, Raj Chaugule 24; Gandhar Bhatavdekar 2-11, Mitesh Rane 2-24) drew with Khandu Rangnekar XI 155 & 86-7 in 36 overs (Sachin Yadav 20, Ravi Shinde 21, Rohit Gupta 19, Digvijay Singh 3-21, Nehal Katakdhond 2-7) at Total Vengsarkar Academy, Oval.
