Nikhil Srinivasan’s elegant half century and Banty Nandy’s all-round show in the Plate semifinal of the 28th edition of the Bukhatir League powered by Fancode

By K.R. Nayar

Nikhil Srinivasan played an elegant and responsible knock in the first Plate semifinal to ensure Colatta Chocolates a three-wicket win over DCC Starlets in Plate semifinal of the 28th edition of the Bukhatir League powered by Fancode at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. He virtually carried his team to the target with five balls to spare despite a spirited performance from DCC Starlets made up of budding cricketers.

In the second Plate semifinal, Banty Nandy top scored with 41 runs and bagged three wickets in Rajkot Thunders’s five-wicket win over Hemnet Properties in a high scoring match.  

In the first Plate Semifinal, DCC Starlets opted to bat and their openers Shahrukh Muhammad Amin and Shrey Sethi put on 25 runs in 4.5 overs before Shahrukh Muhammad Amin got bowled by Mohammed Rizwan Sabir for 14. Two runs later, Krishan Paul clean bowled Shrey Sethi for 7. Araash Raheja and Karan Dhiman held on to take the score to 59 before Nikhil Srinivasan provided the breakthrough clean bowling Araash for 9.

Karan Dhiman and Abdullah Tarique tried to lift their team to a bigger total. Dhiman hit 32 before falling to Mohammed Rizwan Sabir. Tarique remained unbeaten on 39 but DCC Starlets could muster only a total of 134 for 6 in 20 overs.

Chasing the gettable target, Colatta Chocolates got off to disastrous start. Spinner Shival Bawa, who opened the attack, got opener Janakar Chaturanga out to the fourth ball of the first over for 1. Fourteen-year-old pacer Yug Sharma produced a beauty to knock back the off stump of skipper Renjit Mani for 1. At the score on 25, Shival Bawa struck again to remove Taimoor Ali for 19.

At this stage, Nikhil Srinivasan settled down and began to play some lovely shots. He, along with Hari Prasanth, put on a 50 runs partnership for the fourth wicket. Harshit Seth clean bowled Hari Prasanth but Sapandeep Singh held on to score 32 before becoming Shival Bawa’s third victim. Shival Bawa bagged the Hemani Fragrances Game – Changer/Best bowler award

Nikhil Srinivasan carried the team closer to the target but fell to Karan Dhiman for 53. His knock off 44 balls had three boundaries and two sixes and bagged the PSM Player of the Match and Hemani Fragrances Game – Changer/Best batter award.  Though Mohammad Riswan Sabir fell for a duck to Abdullah Tarique, Shyam Ramesh and Krishnakumar with unbeaten knocks of five runs each took their team to the target in 19.1 overs.

The second plate semifinal match between Rajkot Thunders and Hemnet Properties witnessed a keen contest. Hemnet Properties opted to bat and their openers Harikrishnan Valloli and Haroon Altaf put on 28 runs in 3.3 overs before Haroon fell to Dipesh Rajgor for 20. Harikrishnan Valloli and Moeez Waqar put on a strong partnership and took the score 84 in 8.5 overs when Banty Nandy picked the first of his three wickets by removing Moeen for 29. Six runs later, Harikrishnan Valloli who scored 33 got caught behind by wicketkeeper Waqas Ilyas off Hamza Sheraz for 33.

Banty Nandy struck again to remove Aziz Ansari for 7. Haroon Ghaus kept the scoreboard moving despite Banty Nandy clean bowling Rakesh Sawant for 7. Banty Nandy bagged the Hemani Fragrances Game – Changer/Best bowler award. Haroon Ghaus went on to hit an unbeaten 59 off 32 balls with seven boundaries and two sixes. He got good support from Saqib Ashraf who remained unbeaten on 25 and helped Hemnet Properties post an impressive 192 for 5 in 20 overs.

Rajkot Thunders refused to get pressurized by the big score. Although they lost opener Ameya Soman to Taha Ahmed Khan for 11, opener Banty Nandy went for his shots and hit a quick 41 off 20 balls with six boundaries and two sixes. He scored at such a brisk pace that Rajkot posted 67 runs in the first six overs and went on to bag the PSM Player of the Match award too.

One-drop Hamza Sheraz and Rohit Karanjkar took the score to 92 in just 9.2 overs. Sheraz fell for 22.  Rohit Karanjkar fell at the score of 129 after scoring 34 to Muhammad Farhan.  Dipesh Rajgor then played an invaluable unbeaten knock of 54 off 33 balls with three boundaries and three sixes. He went on to bag the Hemani Fragrances Game – Changer/Best batter award.

Ayesh Shaikh Lucky provided support with 16 runs before falling to Faraz Hussain. Dipesh Rajgor then hit the second ball of the last over from Moeen Waqar to the deep wicket boundary and Rajkot Thunders thus won the match.

Brief scores:
Plate Semifinal 1:
Colatta Chocolates bt DCC Starlets by 3 wkts. DCC Starlets 134 for 6 in 20 overs (Karan Dhiman 32, Abdullah Tarique 39n.o, Mohammed Rizwan Sabir 2 for 26) Colatta Chocolates 138 for 7 in 19.1 overs (Nikhil Srinivasan 53, Sapandeep Singh 32, Shival Bawa 3 for 27)
PSM Player of the Match: Nikhil Srinivasan
Hemani Fragrances Game – Changer/Best batter award: Nikhil Srinivasan
Hemani Fragrances Game – Changer/Best bowler award: Shival Bawa

Plate Semifinal 2:
Rajkot Thunders bt Hemnet Properties by 5 wkts. Hemnet Properties  192 for 5 in 20 overs (Harikrishnan Valloli 33, Haroon Altaf 20, Moeez Waqar 29, Haroon Ghaus 59n.o, Saqib Ashraf 25n.o, Banty Nandy 3 for 25) Rajkot Thunders 195 for 5 in 19.2 overs (Banty Nandy 41, Hamza Sheraz 22, Rohit Karnjkar 34, Dipesh Rajgor  54n.o, Taha Ahmed Khan 2 for 40, Mohammed Faraz Hussain 2 for 40)
PSM Player of the Match: Banty Nandy.
Hemani Fragrances Game – Changer/Best batter award: Dipesh Rajgor
Hemani Fragrances Game – Changer/Best bowler award: Banty Nandy