BASIL SYLVESTER PINTO
MARGAO
What promised to be a highly entertaining affair, with two equally strong sides pitted against each other in the 3rd Late Babu Naik all India Cricket Tournament did not let the cricket aficionados down by the end of a Sunday evening at SAG, Fatorda.
For a larger part of the match, Dempo who won the toss and put in the opposition to bat were made to regret the decision. Salgaocar first stacked up a mammoth 324/8 from the allocated 42 overs, and then had Dempo always at a distance in the chase until an eventful 36th which brought the Panaji-based side back into the thick of things.
Salgaocar openers, Swapnil Salvi and Swapnil Asnodkar, continuing from where they left off in the semi-finals against BSNL, set their team off to a flier. Their first-wicket stand of 78 runs was eventually broken by second-change medium-pacer Robin D'Souza who had Salvi caught by captain, Sagun Kamat on 29. Asnodkar meanwhile began to grow in confidence and looked set for a big knock as one-down bat Amogh Desai was getting his eye in on the placid wicket. Asnodkar played some wonderful strokes around the park until an unfortunate run-out arising from a sharp throw by Saurabh Dubey while going for a cheeky second run brought his downfall on 69 (48b, 8x4, 3x6) with the team score on 114 in the 15th over.
On the other hand, Amogh made the most of an early life and another on 31 to bring out from his book some breathtaking stroke-play. The successive sweetly-timed maximums on either side of the wicket that moved his score from 60 to 72 were a treat to the eye. Amogh perished shortly after completing his second ton in the tournament on 105 (72b, 8x4, 7x6) with the team total a healthy 168/3 in the 25th over.
With Goa's ace all-rounder Darshan Misal stepping into the attack, the run flow was stemmed to an extent as he took two sticks in the middle-order of Bravish Shetty (18) and Suyash Prabhudessai (5) to peg back the worries at 254/ 5 at the start of the 36th over. But in the death overs, wicket-keeper Vishant More came to the fore with lusty hitting to end on an unbeaten 43 from a mere 21 deliveries to guide his side to an imposing score of 324/8.
Faced with a daunting target of 325, Dempo were rattled early in the third over with their captain Sagun Kamat (4) bowled by pacer Balkrishna Shirke. Akshay Jambhekar coming in at the wicket along with opener Sumiran Amonkar returning from injury, stuck in to steady the chase slowly. Their 57-run second-wicket partnership was eventually broken with Amonkar nicking one behind to More off Prajwal Gund on an individual score of 33.
With 20 runs added to the score, Jambhekar was bowled leg before by Amogh Desai on 34. Thereafter, wickets fell regularly with Saurabh Bandekar (26) and Darshan Misal (38) playing at just over a run-a-ball but not proving good enough to get a steep required run rate. By the 30th over, Dempo were staring at a huge defeat with only 176 on board and six wickets lost in the shed.
But Saurabh Dubey, who had struck a whirlwind 75 in the semi-finals against Chowgule, in company of big-hitting local all-rounder Robin D'Souza had other ideas. At one stage, the pair were looking at 100 required in seven overs, a tall ask but not an impossible bet given their long-distance striking abilities.
The 36th over off Atif Sayyed brought life into the contest after Saurabh Dubey took a single off the first ball. Robin followed it up with three successive maximums interjected with a wide and another six with a four to follow to rack up 30 from the over. Another productive over of 17 runs followed bringing down the equation to 53 required off 30 balls.
But the 38th over bowled by the wily left-arm spinner Sher Bahadur Yadav, into his final over, Dempo's hopes evaporated in a matter of few deliveries. First Dubey 59 (49b, 7x4,1x6) lost his stumps while going for a big hit to be caught by Suyash to end a rollicking seventh-wicket stand of 99 runs with Robin. On the penultimate ball of the over, Robin was back in the shed after thwacking 58 (24b, 4x4, 5x6) to a run-out courtesy a sharp throw by Azim Kazi.
With Robin out at 276/8 in 37.5 overs, it was only time before the last two nails in the coffin were struck by the eventual winners from the Port Town. Dempo were all out for 293 in 40 overs but not before staging a remarkable late fight-back giving the Salgaocar camp a mighty scare.
Amogh Dessai (105 and 3-28) was declared Man of the Match and Man of the Series. Kuldeep Diwan of BSNL was declared as the Best Bowler of the Tournament and Swapnil Salvi of Salgaocar was adjudged the Best Batsman of the Tournament.
