PANAJI
Times of India, Navhind Publications, Prudent Media and Gomantak booked their places in the semifinals of the inter-media leather ball cricket tournament, organised by Sports Journalists Association of Goa (SJAG) and played at GCA ground in Porvorim.
In their respective quarterfinal matches played on Wednesday, Times of India beat Goan Varta by 8 wickets while Navhind Publications defeated Bhangarbhui by 27 runs. Prudent Media got the better of AIR DD by 41 runs and Gomantak scored a six-wicket victory over Tarun Bharat.
In the first quarterfinal, Prasad Patil (31 not out) and Sardar Raut (19) starred with the bat as Times of India chased down Goa Varta's 65-run target losing only two wickets in 8 overs.
In the second match, Navhind Publications rode on fine batting performances from Manish Parab (39), Sushant Chimulkar (32) and Joao Souza (18) to pile up a massive 106 in 10 overs.
In reply, Anirudh Raul's two wickets and one each by Mahesh Gaonkar and Manish Parab restricted Bhangarbhui to 79 for 4 in 10 overs.
In the third match, Shailesh Zantye's unbeaten 60 propelled Prudent Media to 103 for 1 in allotted 10 overs. AIR DD in reply could manage only 62 runs and lost 6 wickets in allotted 10 overs.
In the fourth quarterfinal, Tarun Bharat posted a challenging 80 for 2 in 10 overs. However, Gomantak overhauled the 81-run target in 8.3 overs, losing 4 wickets.
In the semis to played on Thursday, Times of India will take on Navhind Publications, while Prudent Media will face off against Gomantak.
