Manas Panjim Gymkhana and Chowgule Sports Club started their respective campaign with victory as Bandodkar Premier League T20 tournament commenced at Panjim Gymkhana ground here on Tuesday morning.
Manas Panjim Gymkhana beat Alcon MCC by six wickets after Chowgule Sports Club scored an emphatic eight-wicket victory over Salgaocar Cricket Club in the opening match of the annual tournament organised by Panjim Gymkhana.
Alcon MCC posted a total of 154/9 in their allotted 20 overs with captain Darshan Misal continuing his amazing form with the bat as he top-scored with 64 runs off 40 balls. Coming in at No 5 with Chowgule struggling at 18/3, Darshan first combined with Prathamesh Gawas for a partnership of 32 runs to steady the Chowgule innings. However, wickets kept tumbling at the other end even as Darshan played stunning shots which included seven boundaries and three sixes. He was the seventh wicket to fall with Alcon MCC being reduced to 106/7. All-rounder Deepak Punia then launched a counter attack with a blistering 41 off 29 balls (4×4, 2×6) and his knock powered Alcon MCC past the 150-run mark and gave their team something to bowl at considering the depth in Manas PG side.
Manas Panjim Gymkhana’s Shubham Desai took 3/25 and he was named the player of the match; while Tanay Thyagarajan and Achit Shigwan took two wickets each.
A host of important contributions with the bat saw Manas Panjim Gymkhana reach the target of 155 in 19.1 overs as Alcon MCC bowlers failed to make an impact on a batting paradise of a pitch. Dhrumil Matkar with 37 runs off 25 balls (1×4, 2×6) was the top-scorer while Azaan Thota (33), skipper Snehal Kauthankar (27) and Rajshekhar Harikant (26) made a mark in building the momentum. Tunish Sawkar provided his trademark touch like only he can with power-hitting in his knock of 9-ball 22 not out , which consisted three sixes and boosted PG run rate that can come handy in the qualifying calculations. Alcon ACC bowlers Sumit Kumar, Heramb Parab, captain Darshan Misal and Keith Pinto took one wicket each.
In the first match of the day, Chowgule Sports Club captain Samar Dubhashi produced a stunning display of agressive batting as his unbeaten 79 powered his team to 161/2 in 15 overs in reply to Salgaocar’s 159/9.
The Goa wicket-keeper batter struck 11 boundaries and two sixers in his cracking knock while putting on 118-run partnership for the second wicket with Kashyap Bakhle, who was also in great touch for his 55 off 29 balls (6×4, 3×6).
Earlier, Salgaocar suffered a top-order batting collapse and a recovery in the form of Sujit Nayak’s unbeaten 64 off 42 balls (5×4, 4×6). Captain Deepraj Gaonkar scored 25 runs. Chowgule Sports Club’s Divyansh picked up three wickets while Mohit Redkar took two wickets. Chowgule skipper Samar Dubhashi was named the player of the match.
