Eleven Star Cricket Club, Ministerial Services Sports Club (MSSC) and Indian Gymkhana recorded easy wins in their final league outings to storm into the semifinals of the VCA Guzder League ‘A’ Division One-Day Cricket tournament here on Friday.
Experienced campaigner Faiz Fazal slammed a brilliant half-century as Eleven Star CC outclassed Lipton CC 62 runs at the VCA Jamtha ground.
At the VCA Civil Lines ground, MSSC thrashed Advocate XI by 146 runs, thanks to an excellent knock of 138 by Anshuman Rath.
Opening batsman R Sanjay cracked a superb century to steer Indian Gymkhana to a comfortable 56-runs victory over Medical Representative Cricket Club (MRCC). Despite the defeat, MRCC not only qualified for the semifinal but also topped the points table.
MRCC by virtue of defeating XI Star in the league stage are placed first after both teams ended up with 24 points each after eight matches. The first 4 placed teams have qualified for the semi-finals.
The first semi-final will be played at the VCA Civil Lines ground between XI Star and MSSC, while VCA Jamtha ground will host the second semis between MRCC and Indian Gymkhana.
The semis at the VCA Civil Lines ground will be streamed live on VCA YouTube channel. The final to be played at the VCA Jamtha Stadium on February 9 will also be streamed live.
Brief scores
Ground: VCA Jamtha
Eleven Star Cricket Club 247 for 8 in 50 overs (Faiz Fazal 65, Akash Kumar 52; Tushar Kadu 2-27) bt Lipton Cricket Club 185 all out in 42 overs (Kushal Pimpalkar 48; Harsh Dubey 5-28, Parth Rekhade 2-40) by 62 runs.
Ground: VCA Civil Lines
Ministerial Services Sports Club 316 for 7 in 50 overs (Anshuman Rath 138, Yash Rathod 43; Nachiket Parande 3-48 bt Advocate XI Cricket Club 170 in 38.3 overs (Abhishek Pathak 34; Suraj Rai 4-16, Akshay Wakhare 2-20) by 146 runs.
Ground: WCL
Reshimbag Gymkhana 261 for 9 in 50 overs (Mohanish Kurve 60, Praful Hinge 46; Yash Kadam 3-36) bt Nav Niketan Cricket Club 171 all out in 40.2 overs (Akshay Agarwal 44; Siddesh Dandewar 5-32, Praful Hinge 2-14) by 90 runs.
Ground: VCA Kalamna
Indian Gymkhana 278 for 5 in 50 overs (R Sanjay 104, Azhar Sheikh 87; Aditya Thakare 3-54) bt Medical Representative Cricket Club 222 all out in 44.4 overs (Apoorv Wankhade 69; Raj Chaudhary 4-32, Himanshu Joshi 2-39) by 56 runs.
Final Points Table after eight league matches
MRCC: 24
Eleven Star CC: 24
MSSC: 22
Indian Gymkhana: 20
Navniketan CC: 16
All India Reporters: 12
Lipton CC: 10
Reshimbag Gymkhana 8
Advocate XI: 8.