WPP India XI were still in the hunt for their first win of the season when they took on Texmoda TKCC Royals in a 35 overs game on 12thMay. Mukesh Khetan played the anchoring role for TKCC after they elected to bat first. He got good support, initially from Ajeet Bhatt and then from Gorav Pathak as TKCC raced to 172 for 3 in the 30thover. Gaurang Kapadia & Dhiraj Nagpal claimed 7 wickets between them as TKCC got into acceleration mode only to finish at 199 in their 35 overs.
The WPP reply never got going as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals to some good bowling by Swaroop Chavan & Mukesh Khetan. Ajay Kurtkoti put on a good fight with a valiant 55 and Gaurang Kapadia wielded the long handle to good effect, but they didn’t get enough support from the other batsmen and eventually, WPP were bowled out for 186.
This win was a fitting farewell for Ajeet Bhatt, a past Best Wicket-keeper awardee and long time ardent supporter of Cricket in Indonesia. The JCA thanks him & wishes him well as he leaves for the land of the rising sun later this month…
