PANJIM: Dempo Challengers and Prescon Panthers scored wins in contrasting style in their respective matches in the ongoing 3rd Panjim Gymkhana Members League (PGML) T20 tournament played at Panjim Gymkhana ground, Campal, here, on Sunday.
Dempo Challengers scored a remarkable 24-run win over Priority Titans by defending a modest total of 91 in the first match, where the bowlers ruled the roost. Prescon Panthers beat Desserts N’More Avengers by 24 runs in the second match after a good display by the batters.
Electing to bat first, Dempo Challengers endured a long-drawn struggle at the pitch with only two lower-order batters Sazu Naik (19 runs) and Vidhyut Pilankar (11) getting into double digits. Their 8th wicket partnership of 30 runs, proved crucial.
Priority Titans captain Mukhtar Kadri, Buddhadev Mangaldas and Mrunmay Das picked up two wickets each on a helpful surface. While the job looked well done for the Titans with the ball, their batting went into a disarray with Dempo’s swing bowler Shekhar Amonkar blowing away the top-order with figures of 4/17. Spinner Dhilan Shah tightened the screws with a fabulous return of 4 wickets for just 7 runs.
Captain Kiran Shirwaikar and Sazu took a wicket each as the defending champions put on a superb bowling exhibition to skittle out Priority Titans for 67 in 17.2 overs. Mohan Kholkar (13) was the only Priority batter to get into double digits. This loss also ends Priority Titans’ hopes of staying alive in the PGML3.0. Shekhar Amonkar was named the man-of-the-match.
In the second match, Prescon Panthers produced a confident batting show as the in-form Prajyot Rivonkar (40 off 22 balls), Prashant Pangam (37), Gaurav Desai (34), Neel Netravalkar (25 Not Out) and Siddharth Ghanekar (22) provided healthy contributions to take the team total to 168/5.
In reply, Desserts N’More Avengers got off to a solid start with opener Sairaj Dhond (35 off 22 balls) playing classy strokes. With six boundaries coming off his bat, the Avengers raced to 31 runs in 3.4 overs. However, with the wickets tumbling, the chase lost its momentum. Nevertheless, a gritty knock by team owner Dr Sagar Salgaocar (35) kept the team in the hunt. A couple of 30-run partnerships for 5th and 8th wicket, sustained the Avengers’ fight but they were restricted to a total of 144/9 in the end. Prajyot was named the man-of-the-match and also emerged the Orange Cap holder.
Desserts N’More Avengers are placed second on table standings with six points from six games. Prescon are third with one game to play and RC Goa in fourth. Dempo Challengers are fifth and have two matches remaining. All these teams have six points each. League leaders, Manas Mavericks have already qualified for knockout phase with 8 points from 5 matches while their last league match is yet to be played.
