After a Diwali break of almost ten days the Sindhi Premier Cricket League got back into action with Vintage Victorious Sindhis getting the better of United Sindhis by 15 runs at The Sevens ground on Sunday night.
The 25-over tournament, which is held under the auspices of the Dubai Cricket Council (DCC) and organised by the Sindhi Cricket Club, saw two heroic performances on the day from Manish Mirchandani of Vintage and Anil Adnani of United.
However it was Manish’s 21 runs and four wickets which helped him bag the Man of the Match award as Anil’s two wickets and an unbeaten 60 failed to pull United to victory.
Put into bat, Vintage Victorious never looked settled against some good, tidy bowling from Chirag Makhija, Anil Adnani, Ronak Aswani and Jeetinder Singh.
With wickets falling around him Manish Mirchandani went on the offensive and pulled off a 19-ball 21.
That gave Dilip Kundnani some confidence as he too went for his shots.
He struck five boundaries in his 37 but his run-out brought United back in the match.
But just when they thought they had Vintage by the scruff of their neck in came Yash Makar (15) and Amit Kukreja (17). Their partnership didn’t really get Vintage out of the woods but it helped them to safer waters.
It was not until a cameo from Neeraj Ramamoorthy did they manage to put up a fighting total. Neeraj blasted 25 from 17 which included a six and a four.
United’s reply was equally tame. With their top three batsmen back in the pavilion in double quick time. It was now left to Anil Adnani and Chiraj Makhija to stem the rot.
Anil looked in total command, playing his shots with gay abandon for his unbeaten 60 which came of only 43 balls. Together the duo gave their team some hope.
But once Chirag departed Anil was left with little support from the rest of the batsmen as Manish Mirchandani ran amok by bagging four wickets to win the match for Vintage.
Neel Mighty Sindhis will take on Petrochem Sindhi Kings in the next match on Wednesday.
Brief scores:
Vintage Victorious Sindhis beat United Sindhis by 15 runs: Vintage Victorious Sindhis 167 for 9 in 25 overs (Dilip Kundnani 37, Neeraj Ramamoorthy 25, Manish Mirchandani 21, Amit Kukreja 17, Anil Manghnani 16, Yash Makar 15; Anil Adnani 2-25, Chirag Makhija 1-25, Ronak Aswani 1-41, Prashant Jetwani 1-24,) United Sindhis 152 for 9 in 25 overs (Anil Adnani 60 not out, Anand Shenoy 13, Sunil Nichani 11; Manish Mirchandani 4-18, Prakash Gurbani 2-10, Vikas Aswani 2-14).
Man of the Match: Manish Mirchandani of Vintage Victorious Sindhis.