Anjuman declared champs, but Modern English cry foul

Harris Shield champions Anjuman-I-Islam with chief guest Dilip Vengsarkar (standing 8th from left) yesterday. pic/atul kamble

Modern English High School's (Chembur) dream run in the MSSA Harris Shield cricket tournament almost culminated with a title triumph before they found themselves at the wrong end of the result against former champions Anjuman-I-Islam Allana English (Fort).

Three-day final ends in tie

The concluding day of the three-day final at Brabourne Stadium saw the match ending in a tie, but moments later, MSSA Cricket Secretary Nadim Memon declared Anjuman as the winners. "Along with the on-field umpires [Rupesh Khadge and Ravindra Kolape], I spoke to the Mumbai Cricket Association Umpiring Committee and they confirmed that as the match has ended in a tie, Anjuman should be declared winners on the basis of their first innings lead," Memon told mid-day.
Modern English however, claim that tournament's regulations specify that the winner of a tie is decided on the basis of quotient.

"After speaking to the umpires and understanding the playing rules of the final which states that in case of a tie, the winner should be decided on the basis of quotient, we have decided to lodge a protest with both MSSA and MCA about this decision," Modern English coach Subramanian Doraiswamy told mid-day.

Close second innings

On the final day, where the second innings of both teams comprised 40 overs each, Anjuman were bowled out for 203 while Modern English finished on 207-6, exactly making up for their four-run first-innings deficit.

Brief Scores:
Anjuman-I-Islam Allana 267 all out in 79.1 overs & 203 all out in 38.3 overs (H Khan 57, A Khan 37; V Jobanputra 4-80) v Modern English HS 263-8 in 80 overs & 207-6 in 40 overs (K Saini 53, R Sadake 37, D Birje 37, S Naik 25', K Gosalia 27'; Yuvan Sharma 4-72). Match tied