PANAJI
Exciting contests are currently being witnessed in the Goa Premier Division League, organized by the Goa Cricket Association, with players’ individual performances lighting up the grounds. In an important match played at the GCA Academy ground in Porvorim, Chowgule Sports Club registered a valuable victory by defeating Margao Cricket Club by 4 wickets within just two days. With this win, they entered the final of the tournament.
In this match, Margao Cricket Club won the toss and decided to bat first, but their decision completely backfired in the first innings. MCC's entire team was dismissed for just 101 runs in the first innings. Chowgule Sports Club's Shubham Tari produced a devastating bowling performance, taking 6 wickets for 38 runs and breaking the backbone of MCC's batting. In reply, Chowgule SC posted a big total of 246 runs in the first innings, in which Gauresh Kambli contributed 50 runs. MCC's Rudresh Sharma took 4 wickets in an attempt to stop Chowgule, but Chowgule still managed to gain a big lead of 145 runs in the first innings.
In the second innings, MCC made a strong comeback, the entire credit for which goes to Aryan Narvekar. Aryan played an explosive knock of 154 runs off 163 balls, which included 13 fours and 12 towering sixes. On the strength of his 150-plus innings, MCC scored 289 runs in the second innings and set a target of 145 runs for Chowgule. However, the Chowgule SC batsmen successfully met the challenge. Gauresh Kambli's 55 runs and Pradnesh Gaonkar's unbeaten 53 runs helped Chowgule chase the target for the loss of 4 wickets and seal the victory.
Meanwhile, the match between Panjim Gymkhana and Dempo Cricket Club at the Bandodkar ground of Panjim Gymkhana has reached a very exciting stage. After Panjim Gymkhana were all out for 143 in the first innings, Dempo Cricket Club scored 266 runs in the first innings on the strength of Snehal Kauthankar's century of 119 runs and took a big lead. Abhinandan Thakur of Gymkhana tried to restrict Dempo by taking 5 wickets for just 15 runs. Currently, in the second innings, Panjim Gymkhana have scored 184 for 5 and hold a slender lead of 61 runs, making all eyes set on the result on the final day.
Also, at the NAPEX ground in Sankhali, a run-fest was witnessed between Salgaocar Cricket Club and Geno Sports Club. Salgaocar declared their innings at 351 for 8 on the strength of captain Yash Kasavankar's 121 runs. In reply, Geno Sports Club scored 349 for 9 and is just 2 runs behind Salgaocar's total. For Geno, Vikas Singh scored 87 runs, while Salgaocar's Yash Kasvankar, after batting, also shone in bowling by taking 4 wickets, showing all-around brilliance.
