the goan I network
PANAJI
ONGC overpowered title favourites Reliance One by five wickets to claim Goa Corporate League 2018 championship on Sunday.
Reliance One were put in to bat by ONGC and posted a competitive 189/8 at Academy ground, Porvorim. However, ONGC produced an effective team performance to pull off the chase easily with five wickets and two overs to spare. Mayank Rawat scored a match-winning 51 off 28 balls (6x4, 2x6) while all other batsmen got starts and chipped away at the target. Rawat was named Player of the match.
Earlier, wicketkeeper-batsman Jitesh Sharma top-scored with a 31-ball 68 to help Reliance One put 189 for 8 on board. Reliance One got off to a poor start as they were reduced to 59-4 by the eleventh over. Opener Tejinder made a 19-ball 25 but Hitesh Dalal (7) and captain Saurabh Tiwari (0) departed cheaply as Reliance One struggled early on.
Nikhil Naik and Jitesh Sharma then put on important 52 runs for the fifth wicket to get Reliance One back on track. Naik scored a brisk 25-ball 39 before he was dismissed by Pankaj Jaiswal in the 15th over with the score reading 116-5. Jitesh then took over and combined with the lower order to drag their score to a challenging 189 for 8.
Pankaj Jaiswal was the pick of the bowlers for ONGC with figures of 3 for 28 and picked up the important wickets of Tiwari, Naik and Sharma.
ONGC started the chase in the right earnest as their openers put on 46 runs in just three overs. Shivam Choudhary (21) and Om Bhosale (22) laid the foundation before one-down batsman Nitish Rana (38, 23b, 3x4, 3x6) and Rawat got down to business to secure the chase.
Rana was dismissed in the eleventh over but Rawat stayed behind to almost guide his team home. Rawat hit six fours and three sixes for his 61 and was out in the 18th over with his team at the doorstep of victory.
Lakashay Thareja (22) and Saurabh Kumar (15*) completed the job for ONGC as they coasted home, scoring 193 for five with 12 balls
to spare.
