by Suman Gupta
New Hind fight back to lift maiden Police Shield
Mumbai, December 31: New Hind Sporting Club displayed tremendous resilience and played with grit and gumption and finished the year on a triumphant note. The determined New Hind team from the jaws of death snatched a tense and thrilling one-run win against Victory Cricket Club on the third day of their three-day final of the UPL-76th Police Invitation Shield Cricket Tournament 2023, at the Mumbai Police Gymkhana ground on Sunday.
After setting Victory CC an achievable target of 187 from the 40 overs second innings, the New Hind fielders and bowlers did well to keep the rival batsmen in control and put them under a lot of pressure. Victory CC started well and reached 131 for 3 wickets in 23 overs. Thereafter, they started to lose wickets at regular intervals, but managed to get closer to the finish line. However, with Victory CC needing just nine runs from 45 balls and four wickets in hand the New Hind bowlers stayed focused and conceded only seven runs as they grabbed the last four wickets, the last from a crucial run-out to clinch their maiden success in this prestigious tournament.
Victory CC having dominated the first two days, and looked good to emerge victorious were in for a rude shock as New Hind had other plans and turned things around with a remarkable all-round fighting performance to lift the prestigious Police Shield trophy.
Earlier, New Hind Sporting Club having conceded a massive 153-run first innings lead to Victory CC, rose to the challenge and gallantly fought back in the second (40 overs) innings. Their batsmen were aggressive from the start and took some calculative risks to score runs at a brisk pace and by the 17th over they wiped Victory CC’s lead. They later maintained the momentum and finished with a massive score of 339 for 9 wickets from their stipulated 40 overs to set Victory CC a target of 187 runs to win from their 40 overs.
Leading New Hind’s charge was left-handed bat Sangram Bhalekar who smashed an 84-ball 92 runs (8×4,2×6). The other batters who played good supporting roles was Harshal Jadhav 61 runs (34-balls, 5×4,4×6), Siddhant Aadhhatrao 53 (40-balls, 5×4,1×6), Bhushan Talawadekar 34 (22-balls, 3×4,2×6), Sagar Jadhav 30 (19-balls, 1×4,3×6). Victory CC off-spinner Shashank Attarde tormented the rival batsmen and took 7 wickets for 96 to keep the scoring down.
Victory CC’s Hardik Tamore 46 runs, Jay Bista 35 runs and Suved Parkar 34 runs tried to keep them in the chase, but New Hind’s leg-spinner Parikshit Valsangkar bowled well to take 4 wickets for 81 runs to dismiss the opponents for 185 in 36.3 overs in their second innings.
The champions New Hind Sporting Club received the glittering Police Shield trophy and a cheque of Rs one lakh from Chief Guest Dilip Vengsarkar, a former Indian cricket captain and Vivek Phansalkar, Commissioner of Police, Mumbai & Hon Chairman Police Shield Tournament.
The runners-up Victory CC were presented with the runners-up trophy and a cheque of Rs 50,000.
Brief scores: New Hind Sporting Club – 1st innings: 180 all out in 58.1 overs & 2nd innings: 339 for 9, 40 overs (Sangram Bhalekar 92 (84-balls, 8x4a, 2x6s), Harshal Jadhav 61 (34-balls, 5×4, 4×6), Sisshant Aadhatrao 53 (40, 5×4, 1×6), Bhushan Talawadekar 34 (22,3×4,2×6), Sagar Jadhav 30 (19, 1×4,3×6) ; Shashank Attarde 7/96) Victory Cricket Club – 1st Innings: 333 all out, 89.4 overs & 2nd innings: 185 all out, 36.3 overs (Hardik Tamore 46 (53-balls), Jay Bista 35, Suved Parkar 34, Parikshit Valsangkar 4/81). Result: New Hind Sporting Club won by one run.
Individual awards:
Best Bowler of the final: Shahasnk Attarde (Victory CC)
Best Batsman of the final: Hardik Tamore (Victory CC)
Best Wicket-keeper of the tournament: Siddhant Adhatrao (New Hind Sporting Club).
Best Bowler of the tournament: Vinayak Bhoir (P.J. Hindu Gymkhana).
Best Batsman of the tournament: Harshal Jadhav (New Hind Sporting Club).
