The fine all-round efforts from Salman Ahmed (50 runs & 3 for 26) and Shashikant Kadam (57 not out & 2 for 20) propelled Future Group to a thumping 49-run victory against Mafatlal SC in a semi-final match of the 10th RCF T20 Cricket Tournament 2019 for the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Cup, organized by Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Limited and played under the auspices of MCA at the RCF Colony ground, Chembur.
Future Group amassed a solid score of 186 for 6 wickets in 20 overs and then bowled out Mafatlal SC for 137 in 15 overs to complete the huge success and a meeting with Tata’s SC in the final.
After skipper Akshay Darekar decided to bat first, Future Group suffered two early setbacks as opener Harsh Tank, without scoring and Sagar Sule (3 runs) were back in the pavilion and just nine runs on the scoreboard. But, a responsible batting display by Tank’s opening partner Ahmed and number 4 bat, Avadhoot Yadav 40 runs (29 balls, 7x4s) stitched together a 75-run partnership for the third wicket to put Future Group’s innings back on track.
Later, number 7 batsmen Kadam stole the thunder with his blistering unbeaten knock of 57 from just 21 balls and which was creamed with 2 boundaries and 6 well-struck sixes. He along with Javed Khan added 66 runs for an unbroken seventh wicket to set Mafatlal a stiff target of 187 for victory.
In reply, Mafatlal were unable to rise to the challenge and except for skipper Karan Nande who struck 58 runs (33b, 5×4, 3×6) waged a lone battle, but he did not receive any support from the other batsmen and finished on the losing side.
Brief scores: Future Group 186 for 6 wicket, in 20 overs (Shashikant Kadam 57 not out (21b, 2×4, 6×6), Salman Ahmed 50 (35b, 5×4, 2×6), Avadhoot Yadav 40 (29b, 7×4); Karan Nande 2/27, Puneet Tripathi 2/37) beat Mafatlal SC 137 all out, in 15.0 overs (Karan Nande 58 (33b, 5×4, 3×6); Salman Ahmed 3/26, Shashikant Kadam 2/20) by 49 runs.
Man-of-the-match: Salman Ahmed (Future Grouo).