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PDCA u-16 inter school cricket tournament: Pune’s Symbiosis School break Digvijay wall, conquer title
Digvijay Patil scores 142 runs before Sardar Dastur School was bundled out for 258
Symbiosis School walked home with the title on day 2 of the final clash of Pune District Cricket Association (PDCA) u-16 inter school cricket tournament as they beat Sardar Dastur School by 36 runs at Law College on Friday.
Though Symbiosis dropped five catches, the crucial wicket of Sardar Dastur’s Digvijay Patil who scored a century, powered the side to win the final.
Chasing a total of 295 runs, Sardar Dastur School was in a formidable position with centurion Digvijay Patil in the middle at 142 before he lost the wicket in the 30th over and Symbiosis got the much-needed grip on the game.
Dastur was 224 for 4 when Digvijay got out, and the team bundled out for mere 258 runs.
The 203-run partnership between Digvijay Patil 142 (94b) and Razeq Fallah 54 (58b) had overshadowed the heroics of Symbiosis’ Amey Dandekar who scored 94 runs and took two early wickets. The all-rounder who plays for PYC Hindu Gymkhana got his moment of glory in his final spell of three overs.
“Coach told me to bowl within the stumps and it helped me to take wickets. Digvijay is a class batsman and I have played against him at club level matches,” said 14-year-old Dandekar who was named the man of the match.
Day of dropped catches
The day 2 match saw eight catches being dropped – three by Sardar Dastur and five by Symbiosis. The final clash kept players under pressure and most of them were seen rushing to collect the ball and making mistakes.
“Most of them were nervous and fumbling,” said Nitin Gunjal, coach of Symbiosis School.
Digvijay’s ton in vain
Digvijay was in his element with his bat – both on the leg and off side. Cover drives, punches over the mid-on and mid-off was appreciated by the thin crowd watching the match. Symbiosis was on the back foot with Digvijay hitting 23 boundaries, double of what his teammates scored in total (10).
“We were only marking Digvijay because his wicket will ensure us victory. Our strategy focussed on him because it is difficult to dislodge him,” said Ramesh Bamane, sports teacher, Symbiosis High School.
“A good opening partnership could have helped us win the match,” said Digvijay.
Brief scores:
Symbiosis High School 229 all out in 44.1 overs (Amey Dandekar 61 (70b), Gaurav Runwal 55 (69b), Parth Gaikwad 3-35); Second Innings 239 in 45 overs (Amey Dandekar 94 (119b), Rohan Devdhar 46 (41b), Datsun Daniel 3-60)beat Sardar Dastur School First innings 174 all out in 39.1 overs (Digvijay Patil 67 (56b), Prajwal Salunke 21 (33b), Soham Gandhi 2-24); Second Innings (Digvijay Patil 142 (94b), Razeq Fallah 54 (58b), Amey Dandekar 3-36)
Symbiosis High School win by 36 runs
After the game
“Digvijay (Patil) was the crucial wicket. His dismissal gave us the confidence to win the match. The partnership between Razeq and Digvijay gave us some nervous moments,” Arya Panse, captain, Symbiosis High School
“I never thought that Digvijay will throw away his wicket in my second spell. I was lucky to get him out. Though we won the match, we need to improve our fielding,” Amey Dandekar, man of the match, Symbiosis High School
“I should not have thrown my wicket once Digvijay was out. It was my responsibility to take the team to victory. I will try to handle situation in a better way in future,” Razeq Fallah, Sardar Dastur School
“I wish I had not played the shot that got me out. If I had stayed there till the end then we could have won the match easily. We gave away the match,” Digvijay Patli, captain, Sardar Dastur School
“Dropped catches allowed Dastur boys to reduce the margin, else we could have won the match easily. The lead of 55 runs in the first innings proved out to be vital for us,” Ramesh Bamane, sports master, Symbiosis High School.
“Our team was less experienced as compared to Symbiosis and were short of practice. We lost the first match against the same opponent and played hard to will all matches, only to lose the final against them under pressure.” - Vaibhav Deshpande, sports master, Sardar Dastur School.
