MUMBAI: Riding on their wave of success, formidable Parsee Gymkhana completed a hat-trick of title victories this season as they won their third successive tournament, recording an authoritative 298-run victory over defending champions Payyade Sports Club in the three-day final of the Police Shield at the Police Gymkhana ground, Marine Drive, on Sunday.
It was a memorable day for Parsee Gymkhana, who became the first club from the city to win three back-to-back tournaments, across different formats, in the history of Mumbai cricket. The red hot Parsee Gymkhana had earlier won the Talim Shield T20 tournament and Madhav Mantri Centenary One-Day 45 overs League and now added the Police Shield to their trophy collection. This is the second Police Shield triumph for Parsee Gymkhana who had earlier won this prestigious tournament way back in 1956. When they had last emerged champions, the Parsee Gymkhana team included Indian stalwarts the late Polly Umrigar, Farook Engineer and 92-year-old Hoshang Dadachanji.
The Marine Drive club dominated play from the start, amassing a massive score of 524 for 9 wickets in their (90 overs) first innings on the opening day. India's limited overs batsman Suryakumar Yadav had hogged the limelight with a marathon 249-run knock, while Aditya Tare (73), Sachin Yadav (63) and Vikrant Auti (52) contributed to swell the total.
Parsee Gymkhana continued their dominance on the second day as their bowlers bundled out Payyade Sports Club for a paltry 171 in 49 overs in the first innings. Medium-pacers Siddharth Raut (4-47) and Shivam Malhotra (2-17) and Left-arm spinner Sagar Udeshi (3-53) were responsible for dismissing Payyade batsmen cheaply. Payyade's lower-order batsmen Atif Attarwala (38), Pradeep Sahu (31) and Akash Parkar (26) were the only three batsmen who got some decent runs.
In the second (40 overs) innings, Parsee Gymkhana was dismissed for 142 runs in 37.4 overs. Prolific batsman Sachin Yadav top-scored with 53, while left-arm medium-pacers Roystan Dias (5-51), and Aatif Attarwala (4-39) picked up the wickets.
Payyade who in their second essay needed 495 runs to win from 40 overs managed to score 197 for the loss of six wickets and lost by 298 runs. Bhupen Lalwani (46), Siddhesh Lad (46), and Pradeep Sahu (40 not out) were the top run-scorers. Sagar Udeshi (3-65) got the wickets.
Suryakumar Yadav, who won the Best batsman of the final award, handed over his cash prize to the Mumbai Police Gymkhana groundsmen for their tremendous work in maintaining the entire ground in top condition.
Brief scores: Parsee Gymkhana 524-9 & 142 in 37.4 overs (Sachin Yadav 53; Roystan Dias 5-51, Atif Attarwala 4-39) beat Payyade SC 171 and 197-6 in 40 overs (Bhupen Lalwani 46, Siddhesh Lad 46, Pradeep Sahu 40*; Sagar Udeshi 3-65) by 298 runs
Individual awards:
Best fielder of the final: Vikrant Auti (Parsee Gym)
Best bowler of the final: Aatif Attarwala (Payyade SC)
Best batter of the final: Suryakumar Yadav (Parsee Gym)
Best bowler of the tournament: Siddharth Raut (Parsee Gym)
Best batsman of the tournament: Sachin Yadav (Parsee Gym)
Emerging player of the tournament: Sachin Yadav (Parsee Gym)
