Bhandup school beats holders Shardashram Vidya Mandir by 30 runs to clinch Late Manoramaben Apte girls U-16 cricket title at MCA-BKC
Victorious Parag English School team with the Late Manoramaben Apte Trophy. Pic/Anurag Ahire
Parag English School (Bhandup) stunned defending champions Shardashram Vidya Mandir (Dadar) by 30 runs to win 27th MSSA Late Manoramaben Apte girls U-16 cricket tournament after an exciting final at the MCA-BKC ground on Wednesday.
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Winning the toss and opting to bat, Parag English School posted 130-6 in their allotted 22 overs. Openers Swara Jadhav (35 runs, 3x4) and Tanisha Sharma (30 runs, 5x4) anchored the innings for Parag English. Shardashram’s off-spinner Karthika Poojari picked 2-27.
Disciplined bowling
In reply, Shardashram Vidya Mandir could only manage to score 100 for the loss of six wickets thanks to some disciplined bowling and sharp fielding by the Parag English girls. Off-spinners Arya Davane (2-34) and Rajasi Nagose (1-33) were the pick of the Parag English bowlers. Ashira Patil top scored for Shardashram with 33 runs while Ira Jadhav, who had batted well throughout the tournament, could only manage 22 runs in the final. Jadhav was a major threat for Parag English given her aggressive batting style. However, some smart planning by the Bhandup side ensured she was kept in check.
Perfect plan
“One of our plans was that Swara could bat for as long as possible for us while the other batters would chip in around her. Swara did just that. Our other plan was to restrict the flow of runs from Ira’s bat, since she is their main batter and has an aggressive playing style. “We planned to give her singles, but not let her hit boundaries. Usually, in the first two-three overs, she scores 25-30 runs and that gives her team the edge. But this time, we restricted her to just 10 runs in the first five overs and that eventually worked in our favour,” Parag English coach Manish Rao told mid-day.
The ongoing Women’s Premier League is a huge motivation for the girls, felt Rao. “WPL is a huge inspiration and one of the biggest driving forces for these young girls. The BCCI and MCA are doing a lot for women’s cricket, and in the next five years, we will see that it reaching a very high level,” concluded Rao.
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