At the TATA Motors JCA League on Sunday, a fine counter-attacking innings by GMIS Skipper Naresh Gupta, supported by another century (101 runs) by talented youngster Pratyush Chaturvedi, and their massive partnership together help set up a much needed win for the hosts, when they defeated a fighting WPP India XI by 29 runs. Being asked to take first strike after losing the toss, GMIS were in a spot of bother at 50/4 after 10 overs when big hitting batsman Naresh Gupta walked to the crease. With Pratyush batting fluently on 42 runs at the other end, Naresh decided to occupy the crease for as long as he can, which eventually paid off as he held center stage in a match winning partnership of 180 runs that had the WPP bowlers clueless for the next 19 overs. Naresh, who is known for hitting massive sixes with nonchalant ease went on the overdrive as he launched 14 hits over the boundary, in a partnership that came at over 10 runs per over. His innings of 143 runs over shadowed the fine century by Pratyush, which eventually ended only when Pratyush retired hurt in the 29th over due to injury. GMIS finished on 314/9 in 35 overs. With the bat dominating the ball Vasudevan Parthasarathy (4/53) and Gaurav Pathak (3/37) stood out with the ball for WPP.
In response, WPP with its talented batting lineup were relentless in its pursuit of this mammoth target as they were right up there with the required run-rate when they reached 201/5 after 24 overs. Vasudevan (56 runs), Vinayak ( 46 runs ) and Partha Kabi (40 runs) forged crucial partnerships to keep WPP in the hunt. With Bhuvan unbeaten at the drinks break on an aggressive half century, it was going to be an exciting last session. However the loss of his wicket immediately after the break for 67 runs ensured that WPP were all-out for 285 runs. Despite battling rain and bad light, WPP did well to come within 29 runs of the target. For GMIS, Manish Semwal and Mohammad Imran took 3 and 2 wickets respectively, while Naresh with his part time off-spin accounted for the priced wicket of WPP’s skipper Pallav Malhotra.
Thanks to Sakthi & Venky for umpiring the game.
