Panaji: Priority Titans became the first team to book their place in the play-offs stage of the PGML 4.0 after they scored a thrilling 4-run victory over Baale Tigers at Panjim Gymkhana ground here on Sunday. Prescon Panthers remained in the hunt for the last-four stage with a crucial 13-run win against Dempo Challengers.
Priority Titans occupy the top place in the Standings with 8 points from 4 matches. Prescon Panthers are second with 4 points from 4 games. Dempo Challengers, who suffered their second loss of the season in third league match, have 2 points in their tally and are placed 6th in the 7-team PGML.
Baale Tigers, who are the only team yet to open their account, came close to a fighting victory in the first match of the day, chasing a challenging target of 156.
After getting off to a confident start with opener Rajaram Kundaikar scoring 30 runs off 19 balls, captain Shushrut Nasnodkar applied an assured touch with his fluent 35 runs off 31 balls. With the Tigers looking in control and capable of acceleration, two of Goa’s top former Ranji Trophy all-rounders Robin DSouza (28 not out) and Harshad Gadekar (28 not out) exhibited power-hitting in the closing stages, but their unfinished 5th-wicket partnership of 51 runs was not enough to take Baale Tigers home.
Priority Titans skipper Mukhtar Kadri bowling the final over with Baale Tigers requiring 18 runs to win, managed to restrict Robin on strike throughout the over, to taking 13 runs from the over.
Earlier, Priority Titans put on another strong batting display with Vedant Naik (39 off 19 balls) being their top-scorer after openers Sachin Sardessai (35) and Ojas (35) put on 62 runs for the first wicket.
All-rounder Ojas, who also picked up 1 wicket, was named Grant Thornton Man-of-the Match. Vedant, meanwhile, is now the Orange Cap holder as he leads the batting list with 131 runs from 4 innings.
https://cricheroes.in/scorecard/14376017/pgml-4.0/priority-titans-vs-baale-tigers
In the second match, Prescon Panthers all-rounder and Man-of-the-Match Aditya Angle (36 & 3 wickets) delivered a fabulous performance with the bat, ball and in the field to enable his team clinch an important second win in their fourth match. That apart, captain Prajyot Rivonker (35) and all-rounder Manish Kakode (35) contributed valuable runs to build a fighting total of 134/5.
Prescon bowlers then kept the deep batting line-up of Dempo Challengers in control before remarkably restricting their illustrious rivals to 121/9. It was a scratchy outing with the bat once again for Dempo Challengers with none of the batters showing a substantial positive attitude. Om Fadte (23), Shubham Lokre (23 not out), Prashant Pangam (21) and Vijaysankar Nagarajan (20) would look back on the opportunity missed.
https://cricheroes.in/scorecard/14376023/pgml-4.0/prescon-panthers-vs-dempo-challengers
Edwin Menezes and Gaurish Dharwadkar were the chief guests for the presentation ceremonies of the day’s respective matches.
Brief Scores:
Priority Titans 155/7 (Vedant Naik 39, Sachin Sardesai 35, Ojas 35; Mrunmay Das 2/17); Baale Tigers 151/4 (Shushrut Nasnodkar 35, Rajaram Kundaikar 30, Robin D’Souza 28 not out, Harshad Gadekar 28 not out), Priority Titans win by 4 runs.
Prescon Panthers 134/5 (Aditya Angle 36, Prajyot Rivonker 35, Manish Kakode 35); Dempo Challengers 121/9 (Shubham Lokre 23 not out, Om Fadte 23, Prashant Pangam 21; Aditya Angle 3/10), Prescon Panthers win by 13 runs.
