RAIA: In the semi-finals, Margao Cricket Club (MCC) overcame the challenge of last year’s runners-up Cricket Club Altinho from Mhapsa by 49 runs and a spirited Chowgule showed consistent form as they defeated Iqbal XI by 4 wickets and 5 balls to spare in the 2nd Chandrakant Karapurkar Trophy organised by Sportsweek and MCA at SAG ground, Fatorda, recently.
Margao Cricket Club won the toss and elected to bat. Veteran Vaibhav Naik (52) was the only batsman to negotiate the good bowling of CC Altinho and were 149 for 7 in 20 overs.
Rishikesh Ugale (25) was the lone supporter. Chasing the dicey total, the Mhapsa side lost wickets at regular intervals as MCC spinners wreaked havoc with leg spinner Somesh Prabhudesai 4/23, Heramp Parab 4/24 doing the damage and eventually CC Altinho folded for 100 runs in 17.5 overs.
In another semi-final, Chowgule won the toss and put Iqbal XI in. Iqbal XI played sensibly to reach 167 runs losing 8 wickets in 20 overs. Suraj Sawant (49) was the top scorer. Amir Khedekar and Sanket Morajkar took 2 wickets each.
In form Chowgule batsmen played with caution and then went for the strokes as Rohit Naik (50 in 21 balls), Gaurav Desai (49 in 34) finished the match scoring 168 runs losing 6 wickets in 19.1 overs. Somesh Dodamani took 2 wickets.
The final will be played on April 28, at SAG ground, Fatorda, at 1.30 pm with Minister for Sports as the chief guest and GCA President Vipul Phadke and Treasurer Daya Pagi as the guests of honour gracing the function of prize distribution.
Earlier, a scintillating unbeaten third wicket partnership of 115 runs enabled Chowgule to stun a strong Cricket Club of Altinho by 8 wickets to enter the semi-finals, at SK ground, Malkarnem.
CC Altinho won the toss and elected to bat and finished at 192 for 5 in 18 overs. Tek Bahadur (59) and Syed Badi 50 were the top scorers. Rohit Naik picked up 2 wickets for Chowgule.
Chowgule started well and were 78 for 2 in the 7th over. After that it was intelligent batting by Sanket Morajkar 83 in 37 balls and Shubgam Gajinkar 72 in 45 who mixed caution with aggression and surpassed the target in 16.5 overs scoring 193 fo 2.
In another quarter-final, Margao Cricket Club beat Vijay Cricket Club by 9 wickets, while Cricket Club of Altinho, Mapusa, got the better of Maruti Sports Club, Margao, by 4 wickets at the SAG ground, Fatorda, recently.
In the morning match, MCC won the toss and elected to field in the rain-affected match. In the stipulated 10 overs, MCC bowlers restricted Vijay CC to 53 runs in 10 overs losing 7 wickets. The highlight was the 4-wicket haul by Yash Kaswankar, which included a hat-trick. MCC easily overhauled the total in 6.4 overs losing 1 wicket.
In the afternoon, with better weather condition, CC Altinho bowlers bowled a tight length restricting the Maruti SC to 100 runs for 8 wickets in 18 overs. Nikesh Panjikar was the wrecker-in-chief with a haul of 3 for 19. Infancio Correia (28) was the highest scorer for Maruti SC. CC Altinho with steady batting revolving around Utkarsh (41 not out) passed the score in 16.3 scoring 106 runs losing 4 wickets.
