Mumbai: Al Barkaat MMI English School emerged as the champions by beating Springfield Rizvi High School in the final of the Giles Shield MSSA inter-school cricket tournament at the Wankhede International Cricket Stadium, Churchgate on Thursday. This is the fourth time they have laid their hands on this prestigious championship which turned 125 years this year.
The challengers beat the defending champions by virtue of their slender 12-run lead in the first innings. Thanks to unbeaten knocks by Owais N Khan (90) and Varun Ragji (17), who together weaved a crucial 58 run-partnership for the eight wicket, helped Rizvi set their rivals a target of 206 for the out right win, but the Bandra boys who lost seven wickets, five of them after lunch, denied the defending champions Rizvi another year extension of the shield as they finished the final day at 172 for seven to regain the title.
“It was a good match, we did not bat well in the first innings and we paid for it,” said Rizvi coach Raju Phatak. However, he was happy with his boys who played well overall and did make the final encounter an interesting one. “Overall the boys especially the bowlers played well and Al Barkaat proved they were the better side,” added Phatak. “It was a good match swinging either way in all the three days. But it was the crucial first innings lead which was just 12 runs that made the difference,” said Nafees Khan, the Al Barkaat coach after the match.
Scoreboard
Springfield Rizvi 1st: 111
Al Baarkat 1st innings 123
Springfield Rizvi 2nd innings
O N Khan not out 90, V Ragji not out 17
Extras (nb-1, w-4, lb-1): 6. Total: 217-7 Decld
Bowlers: Y Saudagar 19-1-61-2, J Sharif 14-3-51-2, K Gori 1-0-1-0, A A Shejule 21-7-59-2, A Sayyad 4-0-15-0, R Vel 3-1-7-0, P Lingre 3-0-10-1, F Shaikh 1-0-12-0
Al Barkaat 2nd innings:
T Singh c R Kanojia b V Ragji 21, A Khan c M Kasim b R Gupta 0, M Bhatkar b N Balla 22, Y Saudagar c R Kanojia b N Balla 0, S Khan c MA Jawwad b V Ragji 0, P Lingre not out 76, R Vel b M Ali Jawwad 14, A Kumar b TM Singh 2, A A Shejule not out 24. Extras: Extras: (nb-1, w-6, b-5, lb-1): 13. Total: 172-7 in 94 overs; Bowling R Gupta 6-0-19-1, A Bhagat 7-4-4-0, T M Singh 20-11-30-1, V Ragji 14-7-32-2, N Balla 27-10-46-2, SMishra 1-0-3-0, MA Jawwad 19-10-32-1.
