21 February,2013 09:07 AM IST | | Sundari Iyer
IES VN Sule Guruji (Dadar) skipper Dhruva Vedak scalped four Anjuman-I-Islam (Urdu) wickets to restrict them to 271-7 in 85.5 overs on Day Two of the Giles Shield Elite Division semi-final at Cross Maidan yesterday.
Riding on the spinner's performance, Sule Guruji are now on the brink of making it to the final of the Giles Shield.
IES VN Sule Guruji's Dhruva Vedak in action against Anjuman-I-Islam at Cross Maidan yesterday. Pic/Atul Kamble
The 13-year-old gave away 111 runs with 10 of his 36 overs being maidens. The left-arm spinner scalped the wickets of Mohd Faiz Rathod (28), Mohd Wais (0), Aman Singh (12) and Manoj Prajapati (54) and was supported well by tweaker Sanath Nakte who took two wickets giving away 53 runs in 17.5 overs.
Earlier, resuming on an overnight total of 384-8, the Dadar team was bowled out for 409 in 91.2 overs. Anjuman openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (75) and Mohd Faiz had a first wicket partnership of 86 runs before pacer Sumedh Kamble bowled out Yashasvi. With wickets falling regularly, it was Sunil Yadav (78 not out) and Manoj who stabilised the Anjuman innings with a 110-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
Anjuman now have only a slim chance of making it to the final as they are trailing Sule Guruji by 138 runs with just three wickets in hand. Only Sunil and the tailenders of Anjuman are standing between Sule Guruji and victory.
Despite the enormous task in hand, 12-year-old Sunil is not ready to give up just yet.
"We are aware that if we want to make a comeback in the game I need to score. The drawback is that we do not have many wickets in hand and are trailing by more than 100 runs. I will give it my best tomorrow and will not only score my maiden ton but also help my school win," said Sunil.
Meanwhile, Dhruva is confident that his team will comfortably make it to the final by virtue of a first innings lead.
"It was a bowler-friendly wicket. But if not for our batsmen, we wouldn't have been in a commanding position. I hope to bowl better in the final against Al-Barkaat MMI English School (Kurla)," said a modest Dhruva.u00a0
