Aditya's efforts go in vain

Chasing 216, Aditya struck seven boundaries during a 141-run partnership for the second wicket with Prakshat Thakkar (48). However, in the 40th over, Aditya inadvertently picked up the ball after playing a defensive shot and threw it back to the bowler. The Matunga side appealed and the umpire declared him out for handling the ball. Matunga's tweaker Avinash Tripathi played a big role in his team's victory by claiming five wickets for 60 runs as the Mazgaon team were bowled out for 214.

Aditya Khandke at Azad Maidan yesterday. Pics/Shadab Khan
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Earlier, Rajan Shukla (68 with four boundaries) was the chief run-getter for Matunga Premier.

A distraught Aditya blamed himself for the team's loss. "It was frustrating for us to lose a match that we could have easily won. Though we lost this year, I'm looking forward to doing better next year," said the 13-year-old.

Even the opposition coach Udaysingh Bhosale was all praise for Aditya. "We have a fairly good side this year. We won today's match by luck, as it was a very close one. Had Aditya played even for one more over, they could have defeated us hands down," said Bhosale.u00a0u00a0