Vijay Merchant final berth in Mumbai's grasp

Vijay Merchant final berth in Mumbai's grasp
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

MUMBAI, JANUARY 10: Mumbai assured themselves a place in the Vijay Merchant (U-16) Trophy cricket final by taking a stranglehold on their semi-final match against Tamil Nadu on Monday. According to information reaching here from Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai were 225 for three at close on the penultimate day, in reply to Tamil Nadu's 174. Opener Swapnoj Thakur (93) was the architect of Mumbai's strong reply.

A win would spell double joy for Mumbai, after their Ranji team won the Ramakant Desai Memorial Trophy, the symbol of supremacy in West Zone one-dayers, thereby qualifying for the Wills Trophy for 2000-01.

Brief scores: Mumbai 225-3 (Swapnoj Thakur 93, Paul Valthaty 49, Vineet Indulkar 38 not out, Sangram Bagul 16 not out) vs Tamil Nadu 174 (Harshad Rawle 4-58, Sanchit Pande 2-37, Shoeb Mohammed 2-20).

Tanvi, Dipti shine
IES Chandrakant Patkar, Dombivli scored a thumping 275-run victory over Anandilal Poddar in the MSSA-Colgate inter-school girls (U-16) semi-final at Azad Maidan on Monday.All-round performances by Tanvi Pawaskar (92 not out & 3-2) and Dipti Desai (70 not out & 2-7) were key to Patkar's success.

Brief scores: Chandrakant Patkar 297-1 (Tanvi Pawaskar 92 not out, Snehal Pachpute 96, Dipti Desai 70 not out) bt Anandilal Poddar 22 (Tanvi 3-2, Snehal Parab 3-5, Dipti 2-7).

Wasim cracks ton
A brilliant century by Wasim Sayad and his 110-run stand for the seventh wicket with Dennis Desai helped Islam Gymkhana score 259 against Bombay Gymkhana on the first day of the two-day BICHIP under-22 cricket tournament, sponsored by Orient Ships at Azad Maidan on Monday. In reply, Bombay Gymkhana were 90 for two.
Brief scores: Islam Gymkhana 259 (Dennis Desai 48, Wasim Sayad 129; Omkar Salvi 4-71) vs Bombay Gymkhana 90-2 (Praful Dhule batting 38); Catholic Gymkhana 256 (Vijay Singh 32, Prashant Keer 39, Uttam Sawant 72; Yogesh Kaudhare 4-60, Rajesh Pawar 4-49) vs PJ Hindu Gymkhana.

Innings win for SPG
LAST year's runners up Shivaji Park Gymkhana was the onlyteam to record an out right victory, trouncing Cricket Club of India by an innings and 42 runs, to enter the quarter finals of the Purshottam Shield cricket tournament at Brabourne Stadium on Sunday. Resuming at 49 for 5 and needing another 47 runs to avoid an innings defeat, CCI were shot out for 76.
Brief scores
Victory 352-9 decl (Sachin Kakdekar 56, Ramesh Pawar 61, Mandeep Khurana 96, Premal Rachh 38 not out; Vishal Mahadik 3-97) vs Worli 258 (Abhijit Gawde 60; Vineet Sarang 6- 62); PJ Hindu Gymkhana 417-6 decl (Ashok Kadam 210 not out, Vishal Tawde 49 not out) & 80-2 (Anil Sakpal 42 not out) bt Dadar Parsee Zorastrian 184 (Dinesh Salunke 46; Vishal Tawde 4-27) on first innings; Parsee Gymkhana 337 ((Pravin Tambe 79, Sujit Nakhare 63, Sanjeev Srivastava 51; Jayesh Kansara 5-123) & 40-0 bt Khar Gymkhana 115 (Sanjeev Srivastva 3-43, Sanjay Hadpi 3-16) on first innings; Karnatak 318 (Hrishikesh Shende 54, Kiran Powar 117; Amit Dani 4-61) lost to National 335-4 (Vijay Singh 48, Sunil More 137not out, Rajesh Sutar 82; Nishit Shetty 4-105); MIG 187-9 decl (Satish Samant 48; Rahul Bhimani 4-51, Amod Desai 4-48) & 176-1 lost to Bombay Gymkhana 215 (Manikan Subramanian 69; Faizal Shaikh 4-25) & 72-7 (Santosh Saxena 3-37, Satish Samant 3-8) on first innings; Dadar Union 295 (Darshan Panchal 52) & 45-2 lost to Fort Vijay 346 (Santosh Chaphe 53, Padmanabh Jadeja 59, P KulkarnI 58) on first innings; Shivaji Park Youngsters 344 (Vinayak Mane 96, Abhijit Patil 51, Mandar Phadke 67) & 97-3 bt Rajasthan 276 (Sachin Vichare 58, Darshan Shivalkar 38 not out; Ashish Mahadeshwar 4-76) on first innings; CCI 106-9 decl (Yogesh Kaudhare 4-9) & 76 (Bharat Karnik 4-19) lost to Shivaji Park Gymkhana 202-3 decl (Ojas Mehta 102 not out) by an innings & 42 runs.