Warriors win last-ball thriller

By Paritosh Pramanik

THE decision to retire out Shree Choudhary and bring in Abhishek Agarwal in the 18th over turned out to be the match-winning ploy by stand-in skipper Shubham Dubey as India Warriors edged past defending champions Neco Master Blaster by three wickets in the Vidarbha Premier League at VCA’s Jamtha Stadium on Saturday evening.

In a dramatic last over, India Warriors collected 13 required runs to record their second win from four outings. As for Neco Master Blaster, this was their fourth straight defeat. The loss also dented their chances of making it to the play-offs.

Agarwal scored 22 runs from nine deliveries. He collected a boundary on the third ball of the last over bowled by Adhyayan Daga. But the next delivery the batter was caught in deep by Tushar Kadu with the team still needing seven from two balls. New-man Kunal Nagar hit a first-ball six to tie the score and then picked a single of the last ball to ignite celebrations in India Warriors dugout.

Neco Master Blaster gave a tough fight with captain Jitesh Sharma running from third man to long on for fielding. But in the end it was not their day.

Credit for the chase must also go to Satyam Bhoyar (58) who hit third half century in four games. Captain Dubey’s 16-ball 30 also needed praise as that innings brought the team back into the game. His 53-run stand for fifth wicket with Shree Choudhary (22) kept them in hunt.

Earlier, Bhoyar, who had slammed 58 against Pagariya Strikers and 56 against Nagpur Heroz, looked in total control and along with Ashit Singh, the two added 67 runs for the third wicket. But their wickets in back to back overs put Warriors under pressure.

However, the middle and lower order batters kept their cool as they picked two crucial points.

Earlier, Aryan Meshram finally found his form with a patient half century while captain Jitesh Sharma showed his six-hitting abilities as Neco Master Blaster posted 202-4 in 20 overs. Meshram looked determined and scored his first half century from 37 deliveries with the help of three boundaries and a couple of sixes. Jitesh then hit five sixes from 10 deliveries to score unbeaten 36 and take their total to a challenging one.

Neco Master Blaster lost openers Vedant Dighade (17) and Daga (7) by the fourth over with 28 runs on the board. Tushar Kadu (46) and Meshram added 72 runs for the third wicket to steady Neco Master Blaster’s innings. His three sixes and four boundaries increased the pace of the innings before Gurdeep Singh Sodhi broke their partnership in the 10th over. From there on, Meshram and Vaibhav Chandekar stitched another 60 runs for the fourth wicket before Darshan Nalkande got a fine nick from Meshram’s bat.

SCOREBOARD

NECO MASTER BLASTER INNINGS R B 4 6

V Dighade c Hinge b Nalkande 17 10 1 2

A Daga c Nagar b Hinge 7 5 1 0

T Kadu c Bhoyar b Sodhi 46 26 4 3

A Meshram c Agrawal b Nalkande 59 43 3 3

V Chandekar Not Out 28 27 3 0

J Sharma Not Out 36 10 0 5

Extras: (wd 6, lb 2, nb 1) 9

TOTAL: (4 wickets, 20 overs) 202

Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-26, 3-98, 4-162.

Bowling: Hinge 4-1-36-1, Nalkande 4-0-51-2, Dongarwar 

4-0-45-0, Nagar 3-0-30-0, Choudhary 1-0-20-0, Sodhi 

4-0-18-1.

INDIA Warriors INNINGS R B 4 6 

V Lande c Rajput b Durugkar 15 7 2 1

S Bhoyar c Gupta b Dhoble 58 34 2 4

D Nalkande c Sharma b Parwani 15 9 1 1

A Singh c Chandekar b Daga 23 24 2 0

S Choudhary retired out 22 21 2 0

S Dubey c Parwani b Gupta 30 16 2 2

A Agrawal c Kadu b Daga 22 9 1 2

S Gavai Not Out 0 1 0 0

K Nagar Not Out 7 2 0 1

Extras : (w 3, lb 5, nb 3) 11

TOTAL: (7 wickets, 20 overs) 203

Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-47, 3-114, 4-118, 5-173, 6-190, 

7-196.

Bowling: Jayaswal 3-0-43-0, Durugkar 3-0-30-1, Parwani 

4-0-32-1, Gupta 4-0-35-1, Daga 4-0-42-2, Dhoble 2-0-16-1.