One hundred and fourteen run partnership from openers Sahil Parakh and Ritvik Rade helped Sports Spark Academy to conquer under-12 Varroc cup tournament title defeating Varroc-Vengsarkar cricket academy A-team by 37 runs at Varroc-Vengsarkar cricket academy grounds on Thursday.
Varroc A-team who was the favourite to win the title at their home ground dropped five catches which helped openers Parakh and Rade to control the game.
Half-centuries from openers put Varroc on the back foot as team flustered under the pressure.
“Players fielded very badly today. Their openers were in a form so once they started playing well my team got nervous and did not perform well,” said, Bhushan Suryavanshi, coach, Varroc A-team.
For Varroc nothing went right as their spinners who had delivered a good show in previous matches failed to take wickets in this game.
“We took full advantage of dropped catches from the opponent. Both (myself and Ritvik) played few good shots which helped us to a past score of 150,” said Parakh.
Chasing the target of 155, Varroc kept losing wickets and in the end, they fell short by 37 runs.
{{/usCountry}}Chasing the target of 155, Varroc kept losing wickets and in the end, they fell short by 37 runs.
{{/usCountry}}“I wished if our opening batsman had contributed more, then we could have chase down the target,” said, Sushrut Sawant, captain, Varroc A-team.
Parakh added, “I was only worried about the opening batsman of Varroc A-team -- Shubh Shrivastav once he was out I was sure of winning the match.”
Sports Spark academy is coached by, Shantanu Mache who is 72-years-old.
“I had asked my team to play the complete 25 overs. I knew that staying at the crease would bring us the runs and the best part was our openers did well which set up the tone of the game for us. Both the players Ritvik and Sahil are very good batsmen. Right and the left-hand combination makes thing difficult for the bowers,” said Mache.
Semi-finals
Earlier in the semi-finals, Sports Spark Academy defeated HK Bounce Academy by nine wickets while Varroc-Vengsarkar Academy A-team secured 100 runs victory over Varroc-Vengsarkar Academy B-team.