St. Mary’s lads tame Ambani to win Bombay Gym crown

by Suman Gupta

Mumbai: St. Mary’s ICSE (Mazagon) lads strolled to a comfortable 7-wicket victory against Dhirubhai Ambani International School (BKC) and emerged champions of the inaugural Bombay Gymkhana Inter-School T20 Cricket Tournament, played under floodlights at the Gymkhana’s ground.

Batting first, Dhirubhai Ambani batsmen were unable to score runs freely and were restricted to a modest total of 90 for the loss of eight wickets in their quota of 20 overs. Abhiviraj Goel was the leading scorer with 25 runs from 44 balls, while Taher Kudrati, who had a great tournament, could score only 15 runs from 28 balls. St. Mary’s bowler Raahib Fatehi picked up 2 wickets for 10 runs.

In reply, St. Mary’s School easily chased down the target scoring 91 for the loss of only three wickets in just 14.2 overs. Aran Giridhar, who was the only batsman to score a century, scored a quick 26 runs from 21 balls, Raadnya Apte made an unbeaten 23 from an even number of balls faced and Mir Tawde contributed 15 runs to ensure their school crossed the finish line with plenty to spare.

St. Mary’s Raahib Fatehi was later adjudged ‘Man of the match’ at the final, while Abhiviraj Goel of Dhirubhai Ambani (170 runs, 3 wickets & 2 catches) was declared as the ‘Man of the Tournament’.

Taher Kudrati (Dhirubhai Ambani) scored 208 runs in 5 matches and Raahib Fatehi (St. Mary’s) picked 6 wickets for 51 runs in 5 matches bagged the Best Batsman and Best Bowler awards respectively.

The victorious St. Mary’s young cricketers received the Bombay Gymkhana T20 Trophy from Chief Guest, Dilip Vengsarkar, a former Indian captain and selector, at the prize distribution function.

Brief scores (Final): Dhirubhai Ambani International School 90 for 8 wickets in 20 lovers (Abhiviraj Goel 25; Raahib Fatehi 2 for 10) lost to St. Mary’s ICSE School 91 for 3 wickets in 14.2 overs (Aran Giridhar 26, Raadnya Apte 23*, Mir Tawde 15) by 7 wickets.

Individual awards – Man of the match (Final): Raahib Fatehi (St. Mary’s).

Man of the Tournament: Abhiviraj Goel (Dhirubhai Ambani) – 170 runs, 3 wickets & 2 catches 5 matches.

Best Batsman: Taher Kudrati (Dhirubhai Ambani) – 208 runs in 5 matches.

Best Bowler: Raahib Fatehi (St. Mary’s) – 6 wickets for 51 runs in 5 matches.