In a gripping showdown at the Cricket Club of India, left-arm spinner Anuj Kore stole the spotlight with a stellar performance, claiming four crucial wickets.
His exceptional spell left Swami Vivekanand International, Borivali, reeling at 288 in their opening innings against General Education Academy, Chembur, setting the stage for an intense battle in the three-day Harris Shield inter-school final.
And when the stumps were drawn, Chembur boys were 12-0 in the three overs they played against spin attack.
Kore's tall frame proved instrumental in claiming crucial wickets, including the dismissal of Chembur's skipper Arjun Lotlikar, tipping the scales in favour of the Chembur boys during his 25-over spell. Initially positioned comfortably at 130 with steady openers, Borivali's fortunes took a downturn as they experienced a sudden collapse, losing wickets at regular intervals.
Despite a commendable effort by the openers, the loss of Vedant Nirmal triggered a collapse, leading to Borivali's total score of 288. Vivekanand International coach Mahesh Lotlikar, speaking to FPJ after the match, acknowledged the good performance of the openers but expressed disappointment at the subsequent collapse.
In the absence of regular coach Dinesh Lad, who is with the Mumbai under-16 team, stand-in coach Lotlikar remained confident that his bowlers would bounce back the next day, turning the first-innings total into a formidable challenge.
The first session saw General Education Academy initially dominating, with openers poised for a substantial total. "It was a wise decision by their skipper to bat, and the openers did well," remarked Aniket Surve, the General Education Academy coach. However, Vivekanand's breakthrough led to the fall of nine wickets, adding just over 150 runs. Surve acknowledged the flat wicket and praised spinner Kore's impactful 25-over spell, where he conceded 75 runs while securing four wickets. Looking ahead, Surve expressed confidence that his batters would perform well and secure the first-innings lead.
Earlier, Nilesh Kulkarni former India Test Cricketer inaugurated the match.
Brief Scores
Harris Shield
Swami Vivekanand International Borivali : 288 (Vedant Nirmal 103, Y Jambhulkar 65, Advait Kandalkar 33*; Anuj Kore 4-75, Rohan Patil 3-51) vs General Education Academy: 12/0
Giles Shield
DG Khetan International Malad: 299-9 (Agasthya Upadhyay 162; Rishabh Sawant 3-53, Palash Jain 3-37) bt Christ Church School: 201 (Yuvin Jain 60, Rishabh Sawant 35; Agasthya Upadhyay 6-56) by 98 runs; MK V.V.V.I.V Borivali: 531-8 (Tanush Tiwari 209*; Sarthak Rathod 3-105) bt St. John International: 68; by 463 runs; Dhirubhai Ambani International School: 216 (Rajveer Patil 54, Aarit Gopalkrishnan 47; Darren Nazareth 8-72) bt CP Goenka International School: 77 (Darren Nazareth 38' Rajveer Patil 4-35, Rohan Trehan 4-21) by 139 runs; Hiranandani Foundation School Thane: 194 (Shreyansh Srivastav 50; Kastubh Rawool 4-52, Aiden Coutinho 3-14) bt St. Domnics Savio School: 96 (Kaustubh Rawool 30) by 98 runs; Vibgyor High School Goregaon: 57 (Manthan Gawda 3-9, Jay Thakkar 3-7) lost to R.R. Education Trust: 58) by 8 wkts
