Chawla Royals emerge Sindhi Premier League champions

Chawla Sindhi Royals emerged champions of the Sindhi Premier Cricket League Season Two when the underdogs registered a thrilling three-wicket win over the fancied Petrochem Sindhi Kings in the final at The Sevens ground on Friday night.

The six-month long 25-overs-a-side cricket tournament organised by Sindhi Cricket Club was held under the auspices of the Dubai Cricket Council.

Chasing a modest target of 109, Chawla Sindhi Royals ran into some heavy traffic before winning with three balls to spare.

It was sweet revenge for Chawla who lost both their league matches to Petrochem.

Petrochem won the toss and had not hesitation in batting first having posted scores in excess of 150-plus in most of the league matches.

But it was a different story in the final.

Only Deep Kundwani (35) and Mahesh Vangani (26) made their presence felt as the occasion seemed to have got the better of the other batsmen, folding up for 108.

The damage was done by Vinay Mehra (4-19) and Rajesh Thadani (2-21) who were the pick of the Chawla bowlers slicing through the strong Petrochem batting line-up.

The Chawla batsmen then made heavy weather of the target losing seven wickets but thanks to their prolific scorer Vinay Tolani’s 31 from 19 balls it helped calm the Chawla nerves and see them home.

Petrochem have none other than themselves to blame. They could not have asked for a better start to their innings.

Openers Deep and Mahesh put on 45 runs with Deep hitting a four and a six in his 35 and Mahesh slamming three boundaries and a maximum in his 26.

Despite the onslaught Chawla did not panic and once they got rid of these two they bounced back.

Man of the match Vinay Mehra began the rot getting rid of Deep while Naveen removed Mahesh.

The fielding, which has been Chawla’s highlight in the tournament, was once again top class.

They got two crucial run-outs, that of Neeraj Makhija and Danny Moorjani and put an end to any hopes Petrochem had of a big score.

Only Ajay Sapru managed 10 as the rest crumbled like nine pins.

Chawla began their chase cautiously as they knew that this was a golden opportunity and the target was not big.

Vinay Mehra (11), Santu Rupani (19) and Rajesh Thadani (13) made useful contributions but Petrochem stayed in contention as they struck at regular intervals.

Vinay Tolani, who has been Chawla’s consistent scorer, came to the team’s rescue once again with an enterprising 31 from 19 balls.

Vinay didn’t let the pressure get to him as he played freely striking six boundaries to dispel whatever hopes Petrochem had of a win.

Naveen Punjabi gave him valuable support with 15.

Just when Chawla began to sniff victory Rahul Chattwani struck with three wickets to leave the spectators, who came in large numbers, on the edge of their seats.

Unfortunately Petrochem had very few runs to defend and that made life easy for Chawla in the end with Shiva Pagarani and Sunil Raheja managing those few runs to bring joy to the Chawla camp.

It was a carnival-like atmosphere as more than 1000 spectators, including wives and children of the team members, came to cheer thus making for a classic family get-together over the weekend.

There was plenty of entertainment on and off the field. While most the seniors were glued to the match there was stilt walking, face painting and bouncing castles to keep the kids entertained.

The DCC Honorary Secretary, Mohamed Lokhandwala said, "DCC is delighted with the second edition of the Sindhi Cricket Tournament and is bowled over with the arrangements at this pulsating final. It is heartening to see such a huge family support for this tournament and we have no hesitation in continuing our support to the Sindhi Cricket Club to host the third edition."

Dinesh Wadhwa, Regional Head of ICICI Bank, Private Banking echoed similar sentiments saying, “We thank the Sindhi Cricket Club for providing us this opportunity to sponsor the semi-final and final games and it augurs well for us as most of the Sindhi community present here are our clients and we look forward to winning more of them. The carnival atmosphere with some many families here to support the event is the icing on the cake and we look forward to more such events."

SCC organising Commitee members Shiva Pagarani, Paresh Amarnani and Yogesh Odhrani presented Dinesh Wadhwa with a momento on behalf of the SCC.

Mazhar Khan, secretary of Sharjah Cricket Council who was invited as a Special guest was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the game in the UAE spanning the last 40 years by Mohammed Lokhandwala, Honorary Secretary of Dubai Cricket Council.

There was more good news for Chawla as their team owner Niranjan Chawla announced that the Chawla Sindhi Royals team would visit the UK for an 8-day tour in the second week of June.

The Sindhi Cricket Club, on their behalf, thanked all the sponsors for making it a successful tournament.
 
Brief scores:

Chawla Sindhi Royals beat Petrochem Sindhi Kings by three wickets

Petrochem 108 all out in 24.3 overs (Deep Kundwani 35, Mahesh Vangani 26, Ajay Sapru 10; Vinay Mehra 4-19, Rajesh Thadani 2-21, Vinay Tolani 1-27, Naveen Punjabi 1-20)
  
Chawla Sindhis 109 for 7 in 23.2 overs (Vinay Tolani 31, Santu Rupani 19, Naveen Punjabi 15, Rajesh Thadani 13, Vinay Mehra 11; Rahul Chattwani 3-19, Sunil Lakhani 1-29, Mahesh Vangani 1-3).

Man of the Match (final): Vinay Mehra (Chawla Sindhi Royals).

Player of the Tournament: Jay Joshi (Nhormus Divine Sindhis)

Best Batsman: Rohit Behal (Multiplex Sindhi Rockstars)

Best Bowler: Rajesh Thadani (Chawla Sindhi Royals)

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