Factory Ground Hosts Cricket Masters Academy farewell match V NCU professionals

Pune Indian Cricket Masters Academy touring team are approaching the final few days of their trip to the Province. It has been a worthwhile experience for the young players as they as they strive to develop in what is undoubtedly the biggest and glamorous sport in their home country.

Former Donaghcloney professional and tour team manager Anil Whalekar is elated with the reception and hospitality they have received, not only from around the number of grounds they have visited and participated at,  but also from the Northern Ireland people as a whole.

Anil believes that the experience has improved the young hopefuls already as they have had to adapt to  totally alien conditions and climate from what they encounter on the sub-continent. Fortunately the weather has held up sufficiently enough for them to pit their wits against some of the Unions teams.

He stated ‘it has been a good experience for my players and has helped them gain knowledge of playing in different conditions to what they are accustomed to’. He continued ‘it has also gave them a taste of what it is like to have a career in cricket and what it is like to be away from the familiarity of home’.

So far the budding young stars have played 6 games against and have proven to be a highly competitive outfit. They have 5 wins against Donaghcloney, Lurgan, Ballymena, Muckamore and Dundrum with their only defeat against perennial NCU king pins North Down. A break down of the game results is included below.

Anil has been delighted with the organisation carried out by another former professional from Donaghcloney Indrajeet Kamtekar, now with Muckamore, in arranging fixtures. He has also offered thanks to local umpires, but Anil however, reserved special praise for the host team of Donaghcloney for helping make the tour possible, especially the work of Keith Ogle.

Anil commented ‘I would like to thank Donaghcloney Cricket Club for the hard work organising our successful tour, and special mention must go to Keith Ogle who has worked tirelessly behind the scenes arranging all the finer details associated with such an undertaking’.

To show his gratitude to his hosting team Anil has arranged a grand draw. He contacted the ‘Little Master’, Sachin Tendulkar who was touring with the Indian team in Sri Lanka. Tendulkar himself wished the Academy every success on their trip to Northern Ireland, and couriered a signed bat to the Province for the main prize in the draw.

Currently the touring teams have been selling the tickets on the trips around the country with the draw being made at the final game against a Union Professional XI at the Factory Ground in Donaghcloney. The match itself will be a 20twenty affair with a 5.30 start on Thursday 29^th July, and everyone is welcomed to attend as it is hoped to give the tourist a great send off before they leave on Friday.

If you cannot make that spectacle there is still a chance to catch the tourists in action at the following locations:

Monday 26^th July:           Waringstown 20Twenty (afternoon start)

Tuesday 27^th July:          Lisburn 20Twenty (5.30-6pm Start)

Wednesday 28^th July:     Saintfield 40 overs (afternoon start)

Thursday 29^th July:         NCU Professional XI 20Twenty (5.30pm start) @ Factory Ground.

If you are interested with the chance to win the Sachin Tendulkar bat, tickets are available from members of the touring team.

Match 1 V Donaghcloney

CMA batted first 139/6 in 20 overs.

            Prem Ahire 46
            Aniket Taware 28
            Raviraj Patil 24
            Sunil Patel 22

Donaghcloney 113/10 in 20 overs.
            L.Topping 47runs
            S.Lyttle 34runs
           

Raviraj Patil 5/17
            Sunil Patel 2/16
            Viraj Deshmukh 2/23

Match Result: CMA won by 26 runs.

Match 2 v Lurgan
CMA batted first 259/8 in 40 overs.

Raviraj Patil 94
            Rohit Kakade 40
            Parth Walhekar 34

            P.Stafford 3/60

            A.Bingham 2/63

Lurgan 194/9 in 40 overs

            J.Mccollum 41
            Niranjan Godbole 30
            P.Harie 25

            Aniket Taware 3/40
            Raviraj Patil 2/30
            Vikram Bhosale 2/35

Match Result:CMA won by 65runs

Match 3 v Ballymena
CMA batted first 267/9 in 40 overs.

            Raviraj Patil 74
            Rohit Kakade 64
            Prem Ahire 36
            Parth Walhekar 28

            Pierce 2/28
            Williams 2/31

Ballymena 187/10 in 37.4 overs

            Fisher 79
            F.Taylor 34
            M.Taylor 31

            Aniket Taware 2/36
            Ketan Kasture 2/39
            Sunil Patel 2/23

Match Result:CMA won by 80runs

Match 4 v Muckamore
CMA batted first 154/6 in 20 overs.

            Vikram Bhosale 40
            Suraj Mastud 38
            Raviraj Patil 32

Muckamore 111/10 in 17 overs
            Indrajit Kamtekar70runs

            Raviraj Patil 3/17
            Pervez Shaikh 2/18
            Sunil Patel 2/20

Match Result:CMA won by 43runs

Match 5 v North Down

North Down 145/6 in 20 overs

Mark Ellison 63

            Nathan Burns 35

CMA 133/10 in 19 overs

            Raviraj Patel 45

            A Haire 2/17

M Moreland 2/29

K Donnelly 2/35

Match Result: North Down won by 12 runs
Match 6 v Dundrum
CMA batted first 212/5 in 25

Prem Ahire 67
            Mandar Bhandari 51
            Rohit Kakade 40

            Swanand Mahashabde 1/15
            Vikram Bhosale 2/20

Dundrum 113/10:

Vikram Bhosale 31
            A.Bassett 26
            D.Craig 26

Suraj Thorat 3/2
            Rohit Kakde 2/9
            Viraj Deshmukh 2/22

Match Result: CMA won by 99runs.