MARGAO
Panjim Powerplay beat Salcete Stallions by 5 wickets and 7 balls to spare in the Desserts n More Sarsangan Super Series Cricket at Arlem Cricket Ground
Put into bat first, in a must win match for both the teams with the winner making it to the knockout stage of the Desserts n More Sarsangan Super Series Cricket, the defending champions, Salcete Stallions had a disastrous start to their innings. Durgesh Prabhugaonkar, who was dropped on the very 1 st ball, perished on the very 2 nd ball caught on the mid wicket boundary, without troubling the scorers.
Salcete Stallions were further jolted by the loss of Sandeep Dalal and Saeesh Prabhudesai, both getting out on 1 each with the score reading 10-3 in the 3rd over. 2 more batters Mahendra Audi (9) and Atchut Naik Dalal (9) also lost their wickets as the Stallions slid to 27-5 in 6.2 overs, with Granthik Buyao bowling his heart out for the Panjim Powerplay team in the absence of their lead bowler, Kaushal Hattangadi.
Rajaram Kundaikar was the sole batter who stood like a rock scoring 50 (35 balls) and in the company of Samprabh Phaldesai (10), Sahil Neurenkar (15) and Siddhant Kunde (11) took the Stallions to 124 with sundries contributing with 15. For the Panjim Powerplay, Granthik Buyao 4-13 was well supported by Amit Kamat 2-24, Nimay Kamat 1-20 and Rasik Pai Khot 1-21 in the bowling department.
In reply, Panjim Powerplay lost both their openers Anant Chodnekar (5) and Sahil Adwalpalkar (2) to be reduced to 7-2 on the 3 rd over. Amit Kamat (10) and Granthik Buyao (2) were also dismissed cheaply as Panjim Powerplay slid to 47-4 in the 8 th over.
The skipper Samar Dubhashi (49) played a calculated innings and in the company of Rasik Pai Khot (27 not out) stitched an important 38 run partnership to take their team to safety. A quickfire innings by Laxmikant Kurade (18 not out) took the Panjim Powerplay team to 125-5 in 18.5 overs and ensured that they make it to the knockout stages. For the Stallions, Samprabh Phaldesai 2-8 bowled a great spell and was supported by Sahish Mahambrey 1-18, Durgesh Prabhugaonkar 1-20 and Sandeep Dalal 1-27
Their 4th victory helped Panjim Powerplay to leapfrog to the 4 th position after completion of league matches and they will take on Delite Titans in the Eliminator match of the Desserts n More Sarsangan Super Series on April 14 in the afternoon.
Granthik Buyao was awarded the Desserts n More Man of the Match medal and the Estilo Moderno Realty Man of the Match trophy along with a cash prize of Rs.2000 for his brilliant bowling for the Panjim Powerplay.
