Opening bat Varun Lavande’s century knock 101 runs (84-balls, 12×4,4×6) was the highlight of MIG Cricket Club’s 7-wicket win over Mumbai Police Gymkhana in a quarter-final match of the 108th Spinny-Purshottam Shield Cricket Tournament 2024, played at the MIG CC ground, Bandra on Sunday.
Batting first Mumbai Police put up a challenging total of 174 all out in 40.2 overs. Sachin Rao 46 runs was the policemen’s best batsman, while left-arm spinner Shreyas Gurav took 5 for 29. In reply, MIG CC powered by Lavande’s innings easily chased the target reaching 178 for 3 wickets in 28 overs. Om Keshkamat who had scored a century in the last match scored an unbeaten 34 runs.
Host P.J. Hindu Gymkhana also advanced to the semi-finals following their fluent 9-wicket win against MCA Cricket Academy.
Choosing to bat, MCA Cricket Academy were bowled out for 125 runs in 27.3 overs. Harshwardhan B. 46 runs and Yogesh Shinde 22 were the only batters to get runs. Jitendra Paliwal 3 for 19, Atharva Bhosale 3 for 23, and Rahul Sawant 3 for 46 picked the wickets. In response, Hindu Gymkhana easily scored the winning runs losing just one wicket as they reached 126 in 21.5 overs. Eknath Kerkar 42 runs, Kaushik Chiklikar and Siddhant Adatrao were unbeaten on 39 and 33 as they crossed the finish line.
Brief scores (quarter-finals): Mumbai Police Gymkhana 174 all out, 40.2 overs (Sachin Rao 46; Shreyas Gurav 5/29) lost MIG CC 178 for 3, 28 overs (Varun Lavande 101 (84-balls, 12×4,4×6), Om Keshkamat 34*). Result: MIG CC won by 7 wickets.
MCA Cricket Academy 125 all out, 27.3 overs (Harshwardhan B. 46, Yogesh Shinde 22; Jitendra Paliwal 3/19, Atharva Bhosale 3/23, Rahul Sawant 3/46) lost P.J. Hindu Gymkhana 126 for 1, 21.5 overs (Eknath Kerkar 42, Kaushik Chiklikar 39*, Siddhant Adatrao 33*). Result: Hindu Gymkhana won by 9 wickets.
JVPG Club 216 for 9, 45 over (Abhinav Jagtap 48; A. Maniar 4/29, Jush J. 3/28) beat Muslim United 141 all out, 26 overs (Ajinkya Belose 66, Mahammad Yaseen 33; Yash Pathak 5/36, Samyak Gadhire 3/30). Result: JVPG won by 75 runs.