Spinner Krish stars with fifer for IES New English

IES New English’s Krish Parikh celebrates one of his five wickets at Wankhede Stadium yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

IES NEW English School's (Bandra) left-arm spinner Krish Parikh, 15, claimed five for 39 to dismiss IES VN Sule Guruji (Dadar) for 197 in the first innings (80 overs) on Day One of their three-day final of the MSSA 125th Harris Shield inter-school cricket tournament at Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.

Opting to bat, VN Sule Guruji's southpaw Darsh Murkute (54), opener Ayush Mhatre (48) and Atharva Pisal (45) were the main batsmen to contribute to the team's total.

However, Sule Guruji managed to grab two quick wickets to put IES New English on the back foot, reducing them to 8-2 in the final four overs of the day. Earlier, Krish cleverly varied his line and length to trap three rival batsmen leg before wicket, triggering the Sule Guruji's collapse.

‘Memorable moment'

"I'm thrilled to get five wickets in the final at Wankhede Stadium. This is my best performance in inter-school cricket and it will always be a memorable moment for me," Krish told mid-day.

The three run outs also hurt Sule Guruji badly after middle-order batsmen - Yash Jadhav, Yash Chavan and Atharva Pisal - threw away their wickets due to lack of coordination while calling.

IES New English captain Omkar Patankar felt the match is quite open despite his side losing two wickets at stumps. "Tomorrow is an important day. Ideally, we should not have lost those two wickets, but we have a good batting line-up and hope to get a good score. Our goal is to bat the entire 80 overs. We can then apply pressure on them," Omkar said.

We will fight back: Yash

Sule Guruji captain Yash Chavan reckoned the first day's honours were even. "We are disappointed to be dismissed cheaply and the three crucial run-outs hurt us. However, we are confident of fighting back. Our bowlers will come back refreshed," Yash stated.