PANAJI: Geno Sports Club and Salgaocar Cricket Club have entered the final of Bandodkar League T20 Cricket Tournament organised by Panjim Gymkhana. The final will be played on Monday morning.
In the semi-finals on Saturday, Geno scored a resounding 8-wicket victory over Dempo Cricket Club before Salgaocar Cricket Club crushed Margao Cricket Club by 85 runs at Panjim Gymkhana ground.
Sent into bat, Dempo put up a disappointing display with the bat as they managed a modest total of 129/9. Lower-order batter Mohit Yadav with 32 runs, was the top-scorer as the top and middle-order batters failed to fire. Geno bowlers dominated the proceedings with Pundalik Naik, Kaushal Hattangadi and Mehank Dharwadkar taking 2 wickets each.
Geno SC chased down the winning target in 15.5 overs with 8 wickets in hand. Player of the Match, Rajat Shet (64 off 47 balls; 6×4, 3×6) and Manthan Khutkar (56 off 36 balls; 5×4, 3×6) forged a partnership of 109 runs for the second wicket, to put their team on track to reach the final.
In the second semi-finals, Salgaocar Cricket Club tamed Margao Cricket Club after posting a huge total of 215/5 and bowling the opposition out for 130 runs.
MCC paid heavily for the chances dropped of Salgaocar openers Azaan Thota (74 off 49 balls; 5×4, 5×6) and Piyush Yadav (71 off 43 balls; 4×4, 7×6) in the first over of the innings as the duo built the highest partnership of the tournament worth 129. Ayush Verlekar played a blistering knock of 46 runs (19 balls; 5×4, 3×6) to fuel the charge in the later stages.
In reply, MCC batters fell way short of taking the attack to the rivals as Player of the Match, Yogesh Kauthankar (4/44) and Salgaocar captain Amulya Pandrekar (3/15) picked wickets at regular intervals. Avishkar Mone (31), Deepraj Gaonkar (25), Heramb Parab (20) and MCC captain Rajshekhar Harikant (20), all fell after brief period of power-hitting before MCC innings folded up
in 13.5 overs.
Brief Scores –
Dempo Cricket Club 129/9 (Mohit Yadav 32, Saniket Palkar 17, Kutbudin Jamadar 13; Kaushal Hattangadi 2/20, Mehank Dharwadkar 2/28, Pundalik Naik 2/37) lost to Geno Sports Club 130/2 in 15.5 overs (Rajat Shet 64 not out, Manthan Khutkar 56; Prasad Patil 1/18, Samit Aryan Mishra 1/27).
Salgaocar Cricket Club 215/5 (Azaan Thota 74, Piyush Yadav 71, Ayush Verlekar 46; Avishkar Mone 2/46, Anuj Yadav 1/20, Deepraj Gaonkar 1/27) beat Margao Cricket Club 130 all out in 13.5 overs (Avishkar Mone 31, Deepraj Gaonkar 25, Heramb Parab 20; Yogesh Kauthankar 4/44, Amulya Pandrekar 3/15).
