Parsee Gymkhana dominate KSA to expand trophy cabinet

Winners Parsee Gymkhana with the Madhav Mantri Centenary Trophy at MCA-BKC stadium on Wednesday. Pic/Atul Kamble

Parsee Gymkhana, who clinched their second successive Padmakar Talim Shield T20 title last month, added another trophy to their cabinet on Wednesday night. They outclassed Karnatak Sporting Association by 166 runs in a lop-sided 45-over day-night final of the Madhav Mantri Centenary One-Day League at the Mumbai Cricket Association's Bandra-Kurla Complex ground.

Opting to bowl first, Karnatak SA had Parsee Gym on the ropes at one stage, at 133-5 in 22.5 overs. However, former Mumbai skipper Aditya Tare's sensible 74-ball 99 (15x4, 1x6) along with all-rounder Parag Khanapurkar and pacer Tushar Deshpande's 42 and 37 not out respectively helped Parsee Gym post a whopping 303-8 in allotted 45 overs.

Karnatak SA began their chase well, scoring 20 without loss in the first five overs. However, a technical failure of the floodlights briefly halted the proceedings. When play resumed, the Parsee bowlers did a fine job of bundling out their opponents for just 137 in 30.2 overs. Skipper Ankeet Chavan (45 off 35 balls) was the only notable performer for the losing side. Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani took an impressive 4-23.

"We contributed well in all three areas - batting, bowling and fielding. Aditya played a crucial knock considering we lost five wickets early. It was never going to be easy to chase 303 under lights," off-spinner Vikrant Auti told mid-day yesterday.

Chavan meanwhile, blamed a lack of partnerships for their failure. "We [both teams] decided to continue the game, so there's no point talking about the break and the light issue. We needed to play to our potential, but that didn't happen," he said.

DY Patil Sports Academy's Bravish Shetty (aggregate of 332 runs) and Karnatak SA left-arm spinner Vinayak Bhoir (13 wickets) were adjudged the best batsman and best bowler of the tournament respectively. Payyade SC's all-rounder Musheer Khan was named Man of the Tournament for his 305 runs and four wickets.