Ayush scores fighting 68 before Al-Barkaat strike back

IES VN Sule Guruji’s Ayush Mhatre after scoring 68 yesterday. Pic/Satej Shinde

Prolific opening batsman Ayush Mhatre scored a valuable 68 runs to help IES VN Sule Guruji (Dadar) post a modest total 228 all out in 77.2 overs against defending champions Al-Barkaat English Medium School (Kurla) on Day One of the two-day semi-final of the MSSA Harris Shield inter-school cricket tournament at the MCA-BKC ground on Sunday.

Ayush, who had smashed 213 in a second-round match against VK Krishna Menon School and followed it up with 177 runs against Shardashram Vidyamandir English in the third round, was associated in a 57-run partnership for the third wicket with Darsh Murkute, who made a useful 46.

Al-Barkaat's left-arm spinners Kavya Gori (3-33) and Mohammed Saad Khan (3-48) took the bulk of the wickets.

Uphill task for Al-Barkaat

Al-Barkaat now have their task cut out as they need to score 229 from their stipulated 80 overs at an average 2.8 runs per over today.

Sule Guruji captain Yash Chavan believes his team have a fighting chance. "Another 30-40 more runs would have put us in a commanding position, but I still feel it's a good score. I have full confidence that our bowlers will defend this target," said a confident Yash, who is determined to win as his school had lost to the Kurla boys in the Giles Shield semi-finals in 2019-2020.

Al-Barkaat captain Yaseen Saudagar is certain his team will achieve the target and reach their fourth successive final. "I'm happy that we managed to bowl them out for a low total. We have a good batting line-up and I'm confident we will comfortably score the required runs and sail into our fourth straight final," he said.

The Kurla boys had emerged champions in 2016-17, 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 (the last edition before the COVID-19 break).

Meanwhile, in the second semi-final, Swami Vivekanand International School (Borivli), opting to bat first posted a challenging total of 253 runs all out in 78 overs against IES New English School (Bandra) at the Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana in Kandivli.

Half-century for Vaity

The leading run-getters for the Borivli lads were Ayush Vaity 54, Arjun Lotlikar 48, Aryan Sakpal 48, and Arnav Rane (47').

Left-arm spinners Krish Parikh (4-39) and Agasthya Bangera (3-57) were the top wicket-takers for IES. At stumps, the Bandra school were six for no loss, needing another 248 for victory today.