Mumbai: Middle-order batsman Sujit Nayak’s unbeaten 69 and impressive bowling from left-arm medium pacer Arjun Tendulkar who picked three wickets, enabled Cricket Club of India (CCI) for an eight-run win over Islam Gymkhana, in a first round match of the Nirlon Ltd. sponsored R FS Talyarkhan Memorial Invitation Cricket Tournament, under the auspices of MCA, at the Bombay Gymkhana here on Tuesday. CCI after putting on 175 for six on board, restricted their rivals, Islam Gymkhana 168 in the allotted 20-over encounter. It was a not a beginning the CCI skipper, Paul Velthatty would have liked as he was dismissed of the very first delivery of the match, after Islam Gymkhana won and toss and put the opposition to bat. There was more for the CCI as their top four batsmen were back in the dressing room and were reeling at 33 in 31 deliveries. However, the fifth wicket pair of Karan Nandsy (34 runs) and Nayak (69) held the innings together and put on 62 runs to steady the innings. Later, Nayak, was yet again responsible of the anchor role as he along with Sairaj Pati (20) added 70 runs to put on 176 on board.
Tendulkar (3-30) and left arm spinner Vaibhav Mali (2-12) did the trick with the ball for CCI. Opener Prem Salvi defied the CCI bowling attack with a quick-fire 54 runs off 34 deliveries, and later Ahad Mallick (27) to keep Islam Gymkhana in the hunt. But, Tendulkar dashed their hopes as he picked up two wickets in the final over to ensure CCI scrapped through and booked a place in the semi-finals. Brief scores: Cricket Club of India 176-6 (Karan Nandsy 34, Sujit Nayak 69 n.o, Sairaj Patil 20; Abdul Kalam 2/27) bt Islam Gymkhana 168-6 (Prem Salvi 54, Ahad Mallick 27, Rohan Bhosle 22; Arjun Tendulkar 3-30, Vaibhav Mali 2-12).
Colaba triumph Colaba Sports Academy showed good teamwork and completely dominated play to blank Jupiter FC 7-0 in a lopsided First Division match of the Rustomjee-MDFA League at the Neville D’Souza ground, Bandra on Wednesday. The hero of Colaba’s big win was Abhishek Bhosle who struck four goals including a fine hat-trick, while Rohan Pagdhare played a good supporting role with two strikes and Chitresh Tandel got one to round off the winning tally.
