Sidhant Adhatrao delivered a stunning century to guide P.J. Hindu Gymkhana to a commanding eight-wicket victory over New Hind Sporting Club in the semi-final of the 77th Police Invitation Shield Cricket Tournament, held at Mumbai Police Gymkhana on Sunday.
Sidhant Adhatrao delivered a stunning century to guide P.J. Hindu Gymkhana to a commanding eight-wicket victory over New Hind Sporting Club
Chasing a target of 250, Hindu Gymkhana was buoyed by Adhatrao’s sublime innings, as he dominated the opposition bowling with an array of exquisite strokes. His ton followed an earlier spellbinding performance by Maxwell Swaminathan, whose six-wicket haul dismantled New Hind Sporting Club’s batting line-up and set the stage for Hindu Gymkhana’s triumphant chase. Adhatrao’s unbeaten 136 ensured that Hindu Gymkhana cruised to victory in just 56 overs, with eight wickets in hand.
In the other semi-final, Victory Cricket Club had a far tougher challenge in chasing down a modest target of 188 set by Cricket Club of India (CCI). Despite starting the day strongly, adding to their overnight score of 57, Victory Club stumbled in the middle overs, losing five wickets. Vital contributions from Pranesh Kanpilewar (46) and Divyansh Saxena (38) steadied the innings, enabling Victory Club to scrape home with five wickets in hand.
Brief Scores
Semi-final 1: New Hind Sporting Club 249 all out in 56 overs (Ayush Mhatre 61, Aditya Parab 60, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 32; Maxwell Swaminathan 6/49) lost to P.J. Hindu Gymkhana 250/2 in 56 overs (Sidhant Adhatrao 136*) by 8 wickets.
Semi-final 2: Cricket Club of India 187 all out in 45 overs (Akhil Herwadkar 63; Shashank Attarde 4/71) lost to Victory Cricket Club 189/5 (Pranesh Kanpilewar 46, Divyansh Saxena 38) by 5 wickets.