PDCA cricket: Katariya school enter knockout stage
February 15, 2020, Pune
Pune Under cloudy conditions at the ILS Law College ground on Thursday, Katariya high school decimated Prodigy public school to win by seven wickets in their group A encounter of the U-14 Kohinoor Pune District Cricket Association (PDCA) cricket tournament.
After handing Prodigy their first defeat of the tournament, Katariya finished their group phase fixtures with three wins out of three and now await the draws for knockout stage. Katariya aim to end their barren run as they have won the first three editions of the tournament, but failed to grab a single title.
The batting line-up for Prodigy was in disarray as their first wicket fell early after Navinya Walke was sent back to the pavilion after a silly run-out before hitting the 10-run mark. Poor wicket-keeping by Avdhoot Benderkar gifted Prodigy two boundaries which helped them build a little momentum after an early blow. However, before Prodigy could establish a solid stance at the crease, Katariya got the wicket of Hemant Raut dismissed by Navin Aaji.
Raut tried to lob the ball over mid-on, but could not get the required power on it and hit it directly into the palms of a fielder. Loud, confident appeals for another possible dismissal echoed through the ground, but the umpire’s assertive head shake provided relief to Prodigy, who were struggling. The third wicket did come in the following over when Parth Sule bowled a slow off-spin which caught Rohan Derange on the front foot outside the crease. A swing and a miss ensured an easy stumping.
Prodigy were quite precarious as they almost lost another wicket in a silly run-out, but luckily for them, the fielder could not get his throw correct and missed a direct hit. The next Prodigy player to walk back to the pavilion was Aditya Deshpande after the ball directly hit his pads right in front of the wicket. Deshpande could only add 4 runs to his team’s tally. After quick dismissals, Prodigy tried to ease the pressure as Tejas Patil hit a much-needed boundary after a long time.
Three wide deliveries in a single over bowled by Aaji, coupled with a few quick singles added some crucial runs to Prodigy’s score. The partnership between Patil and Sagar Singh was starting to look stable. However, the low run rate forced players to play risky strokes and in one fine delivery, Patil was caught and bowled by Piyush Pawar, after scoring 22 runs. Singh was clean bowled shortly by Rudra Magardeshmukh, after making 14 runs.
Later, three players were cleaned bowled by Magardeshmukh and Gaurav Yadav. Magardeshmukh and Yadav made a mess of the stumps 4 times in 3 overs as Sarthak Pal, Pranav Sharma and Vishal Yadav were sent back to the pavilion as soon as they arrived on the pitch. It seemed impossible for Prodigy to reach the 100-run mark, despite getting 15 wides and 6 byes. Astoundingly, Prodigy managed to play out the 20 overs. They scored 88 runs after the loss of 9 wickets to conclude their innings.
Unlike Prodigy, Katariya got off to a very strong start. After getting 8 runs on board, Shivam Mane hit three consecutive boundaries to put the bowlers and fielders under pressure. Poor fielding from Prodigy turned quick singles into comfortable doubles for Katariya as they inched closer to the target. There were three loud appeals for LBW, but the umpire did not move a muscle.
After putting 61 runs on the board, Katariya lost their first wicket when Parth Sule was dismissed on Yadnesh Kand’s delivery after making 17 runs. 14 runs away from victory, Katariya lost their second wicket as Avdhoot Benderkar was caught with his leg before wicket on Sarthak Pal’s delivery. A stellar inning from Katariya’s vice-captain Shivam Mane helped his side reach the target with ease.
As Katariya were 8 runs away from glory, Mane was two away from a half-century. However, Mane was dismayed after Atharva Zinzade got him on an LBW. Mane walked back to the applauding pavilion after making 48 runs off 46 balls. Katariya did not lose any more wickets as the winning runs were scored by Shreeniwas Jadhav and Shrikant Ghugri, as both players scored 4 runs each to guide their team to an easy victory with 34 balls to spare.
