Toss is boss as Abhinav Vidya Mandir beat St Xavier's after tie

Abhinav's skipper Juned Deshmukh (left) celebrates winning the toss after his team's match v St Xavier's ends in a tie. Pic/ Suresh karkera

Some good bowling performances notwithstanding the U-16 Harris Shield inter-school cricket match between St Xavier's High School (Borivli) and Abhinav Vidya Mandir (Borivli) had to be decided by the flip of a coin after both teams were bowled out for 103.

Abhinav's skipper Juned Deshmukh got lucky twice with his coin call - both at the start as well as at the end of the day's play. Batting first at the Oval Maidan, the Abhinav lads were bowled out for 103 in 30.1 overs. No. 7 batsman Suraj Wagera (24) and opener Mit Kadam (18) were the main contributors, while St Xavier's also gifted them 39 extras. For St Xavier's, skipper and off-spinner Viraj Doshi and medium pacer Aditya Makwana took three wickets each. In reply, St Xavier's began well, as opener Harsh Nagar and Makwana scored 15 runs each. Abhinav were also guilty of giving away 35 extras. Thanks to off-spinner Rohan Varelkar (6-25) however, those extras didn't prove to be too costly as St Xavier's were bowled out for 103 in 27.2 overs. Abhinav's left-arm spinner Mayur Varelkar took 3-40.

"We lost the game because our batsmen played most of their shots off the back foot," St Xavier's coach Shashi Prakash Singh told mid-day. Abhinav's coach Santosh Gawade gave credit to his spinners: "Our spinners, particularly Rohan bowled well under pressure. Yes, we got lucky with the toss but our boys deserve the win."

In another match at the Oval Maidan, Gundecha Academy's (Kandivli) left-arm spinner Zenith Sachdeva (7-20) helped his team beat Oxford Public School (Kandivli) by six wickets. Elsewhere, at Matunga's Dadkar Maidan, offie Aarya Gawas's (8-27) helped Parle Tilak Vidyalaya (English) bowl out SPS Vidyaniketan for just 47. Manit Dakshini's unbeaten 39 sealed a nine-wicket win.

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