Belgaum Sports Club reigned supreme in the P D Dhotre Foundation Belgaum Champions League Cricket tournament organized by Bhatkande Sports Academy. Belgaum Sports Club defeated formidable Sairaj Yuvraj Warriors in the thrilling finals by 5 wickets and only a ball to spare. The finals was an low scoring affair. Sairaj Yuvraj Warriors were unbeaten in the tournament till the finals. Around 6000 people were present to witness the mega final
Skipper of Sairaj Yuvraj Warriors Sachin Shinde won the toss and decided to bat first. But Skipper of Belgaum Sports Club Tejas Pawar had different ideas as he broke the back bone of Sairaj Yuvraj Warriors dismissing all top 3 batsmen Zeeshaali Sayyed (0), Imranali Sayyed (2), Anirudh Joshi (1) in just 6 runs and they lost the fourth wicket when the score board read 11 runs as Nizamuddin dismissed Nitesh Hanamshet for 1 run. Sairaj Yuvraj Warriors were reeling at 11 for 4. But Nagendra Patil stitched in a partnership of 34 runs with skipper Sachin Shinde for the fifth wicket. But Sachin was dismissed for 12 runs and they lost 2 more wickets and once again they were in trouble as they were 7 down for 68 runs. Nagendra Patil top scored with 38 runs with 5 fours. Akshay Juvekar and Ketaj Kolhapure then came together and held the Sairaj Yuvraj innings together by stitching a important partnership of 41 runs for the 8th wicket. Akshay Juvekar scored 33 runs with 1 six and 3 fours. For Belgaum Sports Club Tejas Pawar picked up 3 wickets in 5 overs giving away just 9 runs. Experienced Sangam Patil picked up 3 wickets and current Ranji player Ronit More bowling exceptionally well in death overs picked up 3 wickets. Nizamuddin Londewale picked up one wicket. In the end Sairaj Yuvraj Warriors scored 113 runs all out in 24. 5 overs.
In reply Belgaum Sports Club lost wickets on regular intervals but some fine batting by Skipper Tejas Pawar, Swapnil Yelwe, Ronit More Belgaum Sports Club achieved the target scoring 114 runs in 24.5 overs losing 5 wickets. Tejas Pawar scored 31 runs with one six and 3 fours, Youngster Swapnil Yelwe batted till the end scoring unbeaten 33 runs with 3 fours, Ronit More ensured his team’s victory by scoring crucial 20 runs with one six and one four. Rohan Kadam scored 13 runs.at one stage Belgaum Sports Club were also in trouble when they were in trouble at 69 for 5, but a fine partnership by Ronit and Swapnil ensured Belgaum Sports Club to win the tournament. For Sairaj Yuvraj Warriors Sachin Shinde picked up 2, Zeeshanali Sayyed and Nandkumar Malatwadkar picked up one wicket each.
Tejas Pawar was declared the Man of the final, he was presented with the trophy by Sham Jadhav. Anirudh joshi of Sairaj Yuvraj Warriors was declared the Best Batsman of the tournament for scoring 265 runs in the tournament. Ramling Patil of Gold Museum Union Gymkhana was declared the Best Bowler of the tournament as he picked up 23 wickets in the tournament. Swapnil Yelwe was declared the Upcoming player of the tournament. Zeeshanali Sayyed was declared the Man of the tournament and was presented with a fantastic Bajaj Bike Jagajampi Bajaj, Tejas Pawar was declared the Impact Player of the tournament. All the Individual prizes were given by Mallikarjun Jagajampi, Shivaji Atiwadkar, Sunil Chougule. The match officials, Volunteers were felicitated by the Chief guest.
Chief guest of the prize distribution ceremony former Test Player Raghuram Bhat urged the players to make use of the facilities provided by KSCA and work hard to make a place in State teams. All the players have to go through hard work for success. The Winners Belgaum Sports were presented with a fantastic trophy and a cash prize of Rs 1,11,111/-, Runners up Sairaj Yuvraj Warriors were awarded with a attractive trophy and a cash prize of Rs 55,555/-. Chief guest Former Test Player Raghuram Bhat, Pandurang Dhotre, Milind Bhatkande, Ashok Patil, Sham Jadhav, Kiran Jadhav, Nitin Bhatkande, Nitin Shirgurkar, Avinash Potdar Gave away the awards.
