Tarun Bharat surprised former champions the Hitavada by five wickets in the OCW-SJAN 22nd Inter-Press Cricket Tournament at the Vasant Nagar ground here on Saturday.
The annual tourney is organized by the Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur in association with OCW, State Bank of India and HCL Technologies.
Put in to bat, Hitavada were skittled out for a paltry score of 60 in 15.3 overs. Only Javed Khan (12) managed to reach double-digit mark. Lakhan Jaiswal was the pick of the bowler with 4 for 9 in his four-over spell. Shree Panchbhai scalped 3 for 14. Skipper Mannu Bawa chipped in with a wicket.
In reply, Tarun Bharat also struggled to chase the small target. At one stage they were reeling at 40 for 5 but Nitin Baitule’s 25 not out helped Tarun Bharat register a thrilling win. Mohan Nahatkar presented Kingsway man-of-the-match award to Lakhan Jaiswal.
Two matches will be played on Sunday. Dainik Bhaskar will meet Punya Nagari (9 am), while Lokmat will take Sakal (12 noon) at the same venue.
Brief Scores
The Hitavada 60 all out in 15.3 overs (Javed Khan 12; Lakhan Jaiswal 4-9, Shree Panchbhai 3-14, Mannu Bawa 1-21) lost to Tarun Bharat 61-5 in 10.3 overs (Nitin Baitule 25 not out, Roshan Tamboli 12; Anupam Timothy 3-28, Shrikant Bhalerao 2-19) by five wickets.