RAVIKUMAR Samarth turned the tables as he anchored the
Pagariya Striker’s chase to perfection with a classic unbeaten century as they defeated defending champions Neco Master Blaster by five wickets to start their campaign on a positive note.
Chasing 220, Pagariya Strikers achieved the target with seven balls to spare.
If Neco Master Blaster rode on sixes, Pagariya Strikers built their innings mostly on boundaries with Samarth hitting 16 from a total of 27 in their innings.
Samarth, who also hit two sixes, played with full confidence finding gaps regularly. The Vidarbha pro picked three boundaries from one of Deepesh Parwani’s overs and also from seamer Ananmay Jayaswal over. He elegantly opened the face of his bat and scored boundaries between point and third-man region. His half century came from 23 balls and had seven boundaries and a couple of sixes. Pagariya Strikers did lose wickets but they still managed to score 76 runs in powerplay despite losing R Sanjay on first ball of their innings and then Mohd Faiz for 24.
Captain Yash Kadam was unlucky to get out after he played-on. Wicketkeeper-batter Shivam Deshmukh joined Samarth and the left-handed batter hit Parwani for a couple of sixes and a boundary. But the bowler had the last laugh as Deshmukh was caught at deep by Kadu for 39 runs.
Despite losing wickets from other end, Samarth kept the run rate in check with occasional boundaries and made sure they return home with two full points in their bag.
Earlier, Adhyayan Daga (78; 42b, 4x4, 7x6) justified his position as a stand-in skipper while Tushar Kadu (87; 26b, 5x4, 10x6) toyed with Pagariya Strikers bowlers as Neco Master Blaster batters rained sixes to post a huge 219-8 after being asked to bat first.
Pagariya Strikers bowlers did manage to contain Neco Master Blaster in the later part of the innings as they conceded only 19 runs in last three overs and took three wickets to keep the target achievable.
Daga, captaining the side in place of regular skipper Jitesh Sharma, who decided to take ‘rest’, started their innings with a flurry of boundaries and sixes. But it was Kadu who stole the limelight with his six-hitting spree. The right-handed batter was in a marauding mood and he spared none.
Neco Master Blaster raced to 89-1 in powerplay with Pagariya tasting only success when Lalit Yadav got the wicket of opener Vedant Dighade in the third over.
After powerplay, Kadu continued with his towering sixes and occasional boundaries as Daga played second fiddle. The captain, too, completed his half century off a six and the duo added 124 runs for the second wicket off 50 balls before Kadu was caught by Yadav off Kadam on his personal score of 87 in 11th over. Yadav and skipper Kadam emerged as best Pagariya Strikers bowlers with three wickets each.
SCOREBOARD
NECO MASTER BLASTER INNINGS R B 4 6
V Dighade c Deshmukh b Yadav 6 7 1 0
A Daga b Kadam 78 42 4 7
T Kadu c Yadav b Kadam 87 26 5 10
V Chandekar c Sheikh b Kadam 1 4 0 0
A Meshram b Chawate 12 18 0 0
S Rajput c Kadam b Sanjay 15 7 0 2
G Dhoble c Salve b Yadav 8 11 0 0
G Farde Not Out 1 1 0 0
S Deshmukh c Deshmukh b Yadav 7 4 0 1
Extras: (wd 3, lb 1) 4
TOTAL: (8 wickets, 20 overs) 219
Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-154, 3-165, 4-178, 5-195, 6-211,
7-211, 8-219.
Bowling: Yadav 4-0-35-3, Kadam 4-0-31-3, Singh 2-0-49-0,
Chawate 3-0-21-1, Gujar 4-0-40-0, Salve 1-0-24-0,
Sanjay 2-0-18-1.
PAGARIYA STRIKERS INNINGS R B 4 6
R Sanjay c Gupta b Jayaswal 0 1 0 0
F Sheikh c Daga b Parwani 24 17 4 0
R Samarth Not Out 101 55 16 2
Y Kadam b Gupta 12 8 2 0
S Deshmukh c Kadu b Parwani 39 15 3 4
S Rai run out (Kadu) 4 4 0 0
A Ahuja Not Out 22 13 2 1
Extras: (w 18, lb 3) 21
TOTAL: (5 wickets, 18.5 overs) 223
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-62, 3-113, 4-164, 5-180.
Bowling: Jayaswal 3-0-35-1, Deshmukh 4-0-40-0, Parwani
4-0-48-2, Farde 1-0-18-0, Dhoble 3-0-27-0, Gupta 3.5-0-52-1.
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Jitesh guides Neco Master Blaster players from sidelines
Special Correspondent
IN LESS than 24 hours after winning back to back IPL titles, Royal Challengers Bengaluru wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma joined his Vidarbha Premier League side Neco Master Blaster here in Nagpur for their opening game against Pagariya Strikers.
Jitesh, who is the captain of Neco Master Blaster but missed the opening game, was seen guiding his players from the sidelines. He was seen strolling with a team-mate near the boundary ropes and guided the players.
At times he adjusted the field and during breaks he was seen in the huddle instructing players how to go forward during the match.
Jitesh also waved to the spectators who were in the stands in quite good number.
A complete team man who wants to win back to back VPL title, has already won two in two for RCB.
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Bharat Rangers take on Orange Tigers
By Paritosh Pramanik
INAUGURAL edition’s table toppers Bharat Rangers will take on Orange Tigers in their opening match of the Vidarbha Premier League Season 2 on Tuesday evening at VCA’s Jamtha International Stadium.
Bharat Rangers, led by Atharva Taide, are raring to go for the opening salvo and will be aiming to deliver a much better performance than last season where they lost to Neco Master Blaster to bow out of the tournament.
However, this year the team is fully geared up for seven matches they would be playing in the league phase. As per the format, all teams will play against the other team once and allotted two teams twice in the league round.
Bharat Rangers’ campaign begins against Orange Tigers, the team which made it to the play-offs last season.
Bharat Rangers have a strong batting line-up with opener-captain Taide and Danish Malewar opening the innings. Taide and Malewar both have played IPL and will use that experience in this tournament.
Malewar represented Mumbai Indians this season and though he could not make much of an impact, he cannot be overlooked. He will aim to give Bharat Rangers a solid start. The team also boasts of Varun Bisht, all-rounders Manan Agrawal, Nachiket Bhute, Aditya Sarvate to name a few.
Jagjot Sasan will be handy in the middle with his batting. He will also be an important cog in the bowling department with his gentle spin.
The bowling department will have to be on its toes when they deal with the Orange Tigers batting line-up which includes domestic red ball run machine Yash Rathod at the helm.
The hard-hitting batter will be eager to dominate the white ball cricket this season.
Bharat Rangers’ bowling will be spearheaded by Bhute, Shubham Kapse, Agrawal, Sarvate and Sasan.
As for Orange Tigers, they are well equipped with some quality cricketers. Vidarbha pro Dhruv Shorey, Akshay Karnewar, Rohit Binkar, Vishesh Ram Tiwari, who fetched a handsome amount in the auction and Mandar Mahale, who all have ability to clear the boundary with ease.
Tigers got a boost with the inclusion of seamer Aditya Thakare in their side. They also have Shantanu Chikhale in the spin department.
In an afternoon game, India Warriors will meet Nagpur Heroz.
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