PANJIM: Geno Dragons and Sun Estates Warriors, New Delhi won their respective matches, in Goa Professional League T20 cricket tournament, organized by Goa Cricket Association (GCA), at GCA Academy ground, on Friday.
In the first match of the day, Sarvodaya Royals went down to Geno Dragons by two wickets.
Sarvodaya Royals won the toss and elected to bat first, posting 158/2. They lost the early wicket of Ishan Gadekar but Snehal Kauthankar shouldered the responsibility with an unbeaten 54 of 49 balls which three boundaries and one six.
Anshul Kapoor (39) and Sourav Dubey (27) were the other batsmen who contributed vital runs as they set up a respectable score of 152/8.
Lakshay Garg was the pick of the Geno Dragons bowling attack, picking up three wickets for 25 runs in his three overs. Robin D’Souza, R Raje, Sher Bahadur Yadav and SS Kumar picked up a wicket each.
In reply, Geno Dragons scored 157/8 in 18.1 overs. Openers Bhasker A K (13) and Lakshay Garg (14) gave them a steady start but after Bhasker fell for 1/19, Geno Dragons soon lost SS Kumar, who managed to score only two runs.
Wickets kept falling at regular intervals, but the unbeaten knock by skipper Robin D’Souza made the difference between the two sides. Robin was simply unstoppable as he scored a blazing 57 of 32 balls. He scored only one boundary but what stood out were his five sixes that kept the crowds on their feet.
Robin led his team with example. First, partnering with Sher Bahadur (17) for a 27 run partnership and then with R Raje (21) for a 40 run partnership.
Shivam Mapsekar remained not out with Robin to finish off the innings. Suprisingly, Shivam scored only one run from as many balls in their 29 run partnership as Robin did all the hard hitting to be adjudged the man-of-the-match.
In the second match, Sun Estates Warriors thumped Chowgule Warriors by six wickets.
Chowgule Warriors won the toss and elected to bat first. They posted 131/8 with the help of Darshan Misal’s 33 not out. Surendra Dahiya (24) was the second top scorer for Chowgule Warriors as he was dismissed by a catch taken by Suyesh Prabhudessai off the bowling of spinner Shadab Jakati. H Venkatesh picked up three wickets for the Delhi outfit and Shadab clinched two.
However, in reply, Sun Estates Warriors maintained their run rate and scored 133/4 in 17.3 overs.
Openers Asad Pathan (25) and Shivakant Shukla (55) put up a 59 run partnership which gave them the needed advantage. Suyesh Prabhudessai followed with 26 off the same number of balls.
Karan Dagar claimed three wickets for Chowgule Warriors. Shivkant Shukla of Sun Estates Warriors was adjudged man-of-the-match.
