On a day when rain played spoilsport and delayed a majority of the Harris Shield Elite Division matches at Azad Maidan, two unbeaten tons by Don Bosco's (Matunga) Bhupen Lalwani (194*) and Swami Vivekanand's (Kandivli) Simrat Singh Bhomra (116*) stood out.
Bosco opener Bhupen’s 235-ball knock, laced with 36 boundaries, helped the Matunga team end Day Two on 397-1 in 80 overs in reply to IES Digambar Patkar Vidyalaya’s (Dadar) first innings tally of 118.
ADVERTISEMENT
Compared to Day One, when the 14-year-old had scored 77 off 55 balls, Bhupen played a more mature innings yesterday and added 117 runs.
The Chembur-lad said he was motivated to work hard after being left out of the playing XI of the Mumbai U-14 side despite scoring 398 against Modern English School in Giles Shield Elite Division last season.
“It was frustrating that I was a stand-by in the Mumbai U-14 team last year. But I don’t want to think about it and brood over it.
This is a new season and this knock has come at the right time. I hope that the selectors take note of it and give me a chance to be a part of the Mumbai U-16 team,” said the Class IX student.
With just a day’s play left, Bhupen now wants to score a double ton today. “My coach (Santosh Chaphe) wants to declare the innings after one hour of play tomorrow. So my aim would be to make a double century and then add on as many runs as I can,” he said.
Meanwhile, Simrat stabilised Swami Vivekanand’s innings after they were 39-3 against IES Modern English (Dadar). His unbeaten knock helped the Kandivli side put 231-8 on board in 70 overs. u00a0