The slender five-run lead was possible due to Yash's spell of 2.3-0-12-2.
VK Krishna Menon's Yash Sabnani yesterday. Picture courtesy /Atul Kamble
VK Krishna Menon Academy's (Kandivli) stumper Yash Sabnani abandoned his wicketkeeping gear and bowled off-spin to help VK Krishna Menon Academy claim a first innings win over the defending champs Al Barkaat MMI (Kurla) in the last Super League U-16 Harris Shield encounter at Bombay Gymkhana on Wednesday.
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The slender five-run lead was possible due to Yash's spell of 2.3-0-12-2.
In reply to the Kandivli school's first innings total of 212, the Kurla boys started well with opener Tushar Singh and one-drop batsman Prem Naik scoring 25 and 31 respectively.
No. 6 Ankit Yadav scored 38 in two hours. But it was No. 10 Bhaiya Shreyaskumar (46, 6x4) and No. 9 Aryan Shejul (12 off 63 balls) who almost won the game for their team. However, VK Krishna Menon's coach Iqbal Thakur had other ideas. When Al Barkaat needed 25 to win. Iqbal, a former Railways and Central Zone cricketer, instructed Yash to bowl the next over. He claimed the ninth wicket off the very first ball he delivered—Aryan caught behind by Sattyam Yadav.
In his third over, Yash forced well-set batsman Bhaiya to hole out to cover fielder Prem Rathod and thus VK Krishna Menon won the game.
Earlier, medium pacer Vishal Prasad and left-arm spinner Kush Yadav picked up three wickets each.
In other Super League game—at MIG Cricket Club—Dr Antonio Da Silva (Dadar) beat Children's Aid Society (Mankhurd) by an innings and 79 runs.
The Dadar team's left-arm spinner Ayush Sawant claimed nine for 19 to bundle out the Mankhurd side for 135. At Oval Maidan, Parle Tilak Vidyalaya English (Vile Parle) beat Don Bosco (Matunga) by virtue of a first innings lead as did Bombay Scottish (Mahim), who trumped Anjuman I Islam Allana.
VK Krishna Menon Academy will take on Don Bosco while Parle Tilak will be up against Al Barkaat in next week's semi-finals.
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