Mumbai: Defending champions Anjuman-I-Islam Allana English School took the upper hand on the first day of the three-day 129th Harris Shield Dream Sports MSSA U-16 Inter-School cricket tournament at Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday.
Anjuman, who were declared champions last season after a tied final at Brabourne stadium against Modern English School in the previous season, bowled out Al Barkaat MMI School Kurla for a paltry 135 runs in 40.5 overs. Arhaan Patel led the charge with a 70-ball 61 to give Al Barkaat a solid platform after his team won the toss and batted first.
However, once Arhaan fell in the 25th over at a score of 95, Al Barkaat lost wickets in a flurry and from 95 for 2 were restricted to 135 all-out. Last match centurion Ishan Pathak(14) also fell on the score of 95. Aakash Mangde, Pradyankur Balerao, and Aaditya Pandey were also dismissed soon to reduce Al Barkaat to 106/7. They folded up eventually in the 41st over.
Yuvan Sharma, who lifted the trophy with Anjuman last season, was the wrecker-in-chief in the post-lunch session, taking 5 for 38 in his 13.5 overs while Aarav Yadav took 4 for 32.
"Our bowlers didn't bowl well in the morning session and conceded a lot of runs on the off-side, especially between point and gully. During the lunch session, we told our bowlers to bowl stump to stum,p and they executed well in the second session. Al Barkaat batters went for their shots and in the process committed mistakes and gave their wickets," said Anjuman-I-Islam coach Kadir Patel.
Aarav later stitched an undefeated partnership of 93 runs in 201 balls with Laxmanprasad Yadav for the second wicket to put their school in a strong position. Laxmanprasad was unbeaten on 52, and Aarav made 45 not out as Anjuman reached 109/1 in 39 overs at stumps, trailing just by 26 runs. Opening batter Umar Khute was dismissed early by Mohammad Ali. The CST side can play 41 overs more on Wednesday to bat Al Barkaat out of the match.
Patel was a happy man at the end of the first day's play, but he knew there was still a lot of cricket left in the match. "We will look to bat cautiously till the 60th over, and if we have wickets in hand, then we will play aggressively," he added.
Earlier, in the morning, several dignitaries, including MSSA President Father Jude Rodrigues, Abhay Hadap- Former Secretary MCA, Dr Dimple Joshi- Director Victorious Endeavours, and other MCA officials, were present at the toss. Special guests, Solly Adam, a former league cricketer and prominent mentor of Yorkshire, and Milind Wagle, a legendary broadcaster, attended the game to showcase their support for the young cricketers.
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129th Harris shield at Wankhede Stadium, Final toss chief guest miss Dimple Joshi, Abay Hadap, Nadim Memon, fr Jude with captains Albharkat & Anjuman schools
