Pune: A 75-run second wicket partnership between Amey Dandekar (61) and Gaurav Runwal (55) and spot bowling helped Symbiosis High School to take a 55-run lead against Sardar Dastur School on day one of the two-day final of the Pune District Cricket Association (PDCA) under-16 inter school at Law College ground on Thursday.
After piling 229 runs in the first innings, Symbiosis bowled out Sardar Dastur for 174 runs.
The star wicket-takers were Aryan Pawar (2-44), Arya Panse (2-20) and Soham Gandhi (2-24) who broke the dream run of Sardar Dastur, the side that had beaten BVB Paranjape B School in the semi-final by a huge margin of 296 runs.
“We performed well in all departments. Dastur was dependent on their main batsman Digvijay Patil and it cost them,” said Ramesh Bamane, sports teacher of Symbiosis High School.
Digvijay Patil, who remained unbeaten at 201 in the semi-final match, stood tall for his team by scoring 67 runs in 56 balls and took three wickets with his off-spin. Sardar Dastur got an early blow when opener Datsun Daniel was clean bowled in the second over.
Batting at number four, Digvijay remained at the middle, but wickets keep falling at the other end. The run-out of in-form batsman Sarthak Ghadge in 15th over proved crucial as other batsmen failed to form a partnership with Digvijay.
{{/usCountry}}Batting at number four, Digvijay remained at the middle, but wickets keep falling at the other end. The run-out of in-form batsman Sarthak Ghadge in 15th over proved crucial as other batsmen failed to form a partnership with Digvijay.
{{/usCountry}}“Digvijay plays medium pacers better than spinners. So, first he got into the flow and scored boundaries against our medium pacers. We brought in spinners when he started playing aggressively and leg-spinner Soham Gandhi got the wicket,” said Bamane.
Mini collapse
Three wickets — Ishan Chilka (8), Razag Fallah (0), Parth Gaikwad (0) — fell in quick succession. From 128 for 4, the scoreboard was 129 for 6. Middle order was completely exposed as Fallah and Gaikwad got out playing risky shots and Chilka got run out.
Digvijay also lost his wicket and the score read 148 for 7 in 29 overs. Tailenders managed to add 26 runs before the team was bowled out for 174.
“I hope tomorrow also our top batsman score big and it will be easy for us to win the match,” said Bamane.
Vaibhav Deshpande, sports teacher of Sardar Dastur School, said, “We gave away many extras and our top batsman got out while going for big shots. Our middle order failed to score runs.”
Brief scores: Day 1
Symbiosis School First innings 229 all out in 44.1 overs (Amey Dandekar 61 (70b), Gaurav Runwal 55 (69b), Parth Gaikwad 3-35) versus Sardar Dastur School First innings 174 all out in 39.1 overs (Digvijay Patil 67 (56b), Prajwal Salunke 21 (33b), Soham Gandhi 2-24)
Symbiosis High School lead by 55 runs