SATURDAY, JULY 27, 2024
Team Herald
MARGAO: CQS Scoring Willows and Mapusa Dream Crushers defeated Canacona Warriors and Madgaon Super Strikers respectively in the Alcon GSB Unity Cup T20 cricket tournament organised by the Goa GSB Sports and Charitable Trust in association with Goa Saraswat Samaj, at the MCC ground, here, on Sunday.
Despite winning by 18 runs, CQS's challenge was over. Despite a huge win with 6 wickets and 36 balls to spare, Dream Crushers dream of getting to Semis still hangs by thread.
With Margao Royals already in the semi-finals from Group A, only one spot is remaining, With Sunday's win, the Mapusa Dream Crushers finished second in the group. Fourth-placed Rangers and bottom-placed Mathagram Warriors will meet on May 20. If Rangers win this match, Rangers will advance to the semi-finals with 8 points dashing Mapusa Dream Crushers Hopes. If they lose, however, their challenge will be over.
CQS scoring Willows needed to restrict the Canacona Warriors' innings to 107 or fewer to advance from Group B to the semifinals. But they couldn't do that. Despite the win, CQS scoring Willows (0.509) had six points, similar to The Sinq Rangers, but their challenge in the competition was cut short by a low net run rate. Sinq Rangers (0.759) became the second team to reach the semi-finals from Group B. Antruz Strikers have already reached the semi-finals from this group with five consecutive Wins.
On Saturday, Madgaon Royals reached the semi-finals defeating Desserts N’More Avengers by three wickets with 7 balls to spare. With this win, they topped Group A. They have eight points from five games. Sanat Prabhudesai won the man-of-the-match award for his blistering 40-run knock. Despite the defeat, the DnM Avengers' challenge remains. Rangers are also in contention for the semi-finals from this group.
In another match, Antuz Strikers ended their league campaign unbeaten defeating Sinq Rangers with 21 balls to spare and 5 wickets in hand. They had already secured a place in the semi-finals before this match.
Venkat Biche was awarded the man-of-the-match award for his all-round performance. In Group B, they have 10 points from five matches with five wins. Sinq Rangers, Canacona Warriors and CQS Scoring Willows have a chance to reach the semi-finals from this group.
Brief scores: CQS Scoring Willows: 151 for 6 in 20 overs (Balkrishna Hodarkar 35, Deep Bhende 25, Nikhil Virjinkar 24, Guru Bale 21-2, Kaunteya Shenvi 24-1, Saurabh Prabhu Desai 33-1) bt Canacona Warriors 133 all out in 16 overs (Shivram Varik 37, Amey Rajadhyax 22, Ramchandra Prabhu 16, Deep Bhende 25-3, Vikrant Prabhu, Balkrishna Hodarkar and Nikhil Virjinkar 1 wicket each).
Madgaon Super Strikers 135 for 8 in 20 overs (Sahil Mandrekar 38, Vismay Falgaonkar 35, Raghuvir Gharse 12, Vipul Deshprabhu 17-3, Rajaram Kundaikar, Neel Netravalkar and Mehank Dharwadkar 1 wicket each) lost to Mapusa Dream Crushers 136 for 4 in 14 overs (Venkatesh Verlekar 38, Mehank Dharwadkar 35, Smit Dalvi 26, Raghuvir Gharse 7-1, Sarvesh Kamat 26-1).
Sinq Rangers 150 for 8 in 20 overs (Megh Netravalkar 36, Gaurav Gaitonde 29, Sairaj Dhond 18, Nandan Acharya 14-2, Venkat Biche 27-2, Saish Prabhu Desai and Kapil Sinai Borker 1 wicket each) lost to Antruz Strikers 154 for 5 in 16.3 overs (Venkat Biche 38, Pranav Biche 38, Prasheel Kamat 36, Sanat Mhapne 19-1, Suyash Kamat 39-1).
Desserts N’More Avengers 138 for 6 in 20 overs (Kapil Angle 35, Siddhesh Amonkar 32, Manish Kakode 22, Aditya Dalal 13-1, Granthik Buyao 18-1, Vikram Gaitonde 24-1, Nimay Kamat 28-1) lost to Madgaon Royals 139 for 7 in 18.5 overs (Sanat Prabhudesai 40, Vikram Gaitonde 22, Samprabh Faldesai 20, Manish Kakode 12-2, Siddharth Ghanekar 23-2, Anish Kakode and Kapil Angle 1 wicket each).
