PANAJI: Goa scored a nail-biting 1-run victory over Purvanchal to win the Federation Cup Tennis Ball Cricket Championship in Rajasthan.
Batting first, Goa scored 44/5 in 8 overs in the final. Abhishek Gaonkar top-scored with 23 runs. In reply, Purvanchal made 43/8 in 8 overs. In the final over, Purvanchal needed 3 runs to win, but Shriram Malik bowled an excellent over, giving only 1 run. For Goa, Akash Bhandari took 3 wickets while Prasad Satarkar claimed 2 wickets. The team was led by Ajay Halgekar while Haresh Parsekar was the coach of the team.
Earlier, Goa beat Uttar Pradesh by 12 runs in the semi-final. Batting first, Goa scored 55/5 (Abhishek Gaonkar 23, Shriram Malik 12). In reply, UP scored 43/7 (Shriram Malik 3 wickets).
Goa men’s team were undefeated in the entire championship, while the women’s challenge ended against Chhattisgarh in the quarter-finals, states a press release by Ropesh Naik, Secretary, Goa Tennis Ball Cricket Association.
