Defending champions Parsee Gymkhana charged into the semi-finals as they scored an emphatic 112-run victory over Sind Sports Club in a quarter-final match of the 69th Nawab Salar Jung Invitation T20 Cricket Tournament, which is being organised by the Islam Gymkhana under the auspices of the Mumbai Cricket Association and played at the Parsee Gymkhana ground on Friday.
Aman Khan
After being sent in to bat first, Parsee Gym’s opener Nikhil Patil and number 3 batsman Aman Khan, both scored the same number of 78 runs each and helped their team pile up a massive total of 226 for the loss of just three wickets. Patil’s solid effort came from 46 balls and was studded with 9 boundaries and 4 sixes while Khan faced 42 balls during his fiery knock which included 11 hits to the fence and 2 huge sixes. The pair was involved in a massive second wicket 164 runs partnership, which was chiefly responsible for shaping the success of the team.
Nikhil Patil
Faced with a daunting task to score 227 for victory, Sind SC were unable to rise to the challenge and they lost wickets at regular intervals and could only score 114 runs for 9 wickets as their innings came to a close. Left-handed middle-order bat Akhil Rajput top-scored with 28 runs. Parsee Gym’s left-arm medium pacer Vikas Singh picked 3 for 24 and left-arm spinner Sham Mulani took 2 for 13 did most of the damage.
Meanwhile in a first round match, Payyade SC registered a convincing 6-wicket victory against Souvenir CC to advance into the quarter-finals. Put in to bat Souvenir CC were restricted to 140 for 7 wickets from their 20 overs and later Payyade quite comfortably scored 145 runs and losing just 4 wickets in 18.1 overs.
Brief scores: Parsee Gymkhana 226 for 3 wickets, 20 overs (Nikhil Patil 78, Aman Khan 78) beat Sind SC 114 for 9 wickets, 20 overs (Akhil Rajput 28; Vikas Singh 3-24, Shams Mulani 2/13) by 112 runs.
Souvenier CC 140 for 7 wickets, 20 overs (Shoaib Shaikh 49, Nikhil Ajgaonkar 40*; Deepak Shetty 3/27) lost to Payyade SC 145 for 4 wickets, 18.1 overs (Neil Narvekar 54, Usaid Cutteriywala 48*; Saurabh Satelkar 4/33) by 6 wickets.