Cardinal Gracious confident of victory

Sufiyan Khan (71) and Umair Mullah (52) helped Cardinal Gracias (Bandra) post a fighting 216 against Lilavatibai Podar (Santacruz) on Day One of the Nike-MSSA U-14 inter-school Giles Shield

Sufiyan Khan (71) and Umair Mullah (52) helped Cardinal Gracias (Bandra) post a fighting 216 against Lilavatibai Podar (Santacruz) on Day One of the Nike-MSSA U-14 inter-school Giles Shield Group 'B' plate final at Cross Maidan yesterday.

No 3 batsman Mullah, who came to the crease earlier than expected, after opener Abid Rizvi was clean bowled by pacer Nishant Williams off the second ball of the innings and No 5 batter Khan took advantage of the easy batting conditions earlier on. "It was easier to play the fast bowlers and so we decided to get after them. We knew the spinners could cause problems," Mullah said. And right enough, Lilavatibai's spinners offie Abhishek Yadav (10-3) and left-armer Dhrumil Matkar (2-25) wreaked havoc claiming half the Cardinal side. At the end of the day, Lilavatibai were on 17 for the loss of one wicket.

Cardinal are confident they can bowl out their opponents early on Day Two. "We want get Podar out quickly, within 100 runs. We are keen to win and return play among the Elite again," Khan said. u2014

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