MUMBAI: Left-arm spinning allrounder Atharva Ankolekar blasted a 93-ball 154 (16x4, 11x6) to help Income Tax Sports & Recreation Club 'A' gain a first innings lead from a hopeless position over Indian Navy Sports Control Cell at the Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana in Kandivali on the third and final day of the Times Shield 'A' Division third round league matches on Thursday.
Replying to Indian Navy's 254, Income Tax were reduced to 222 for nine in the 47th over, before Ankolekar, walking in at No 8, added 131 for the tenth wicket with Omkar Mandrekar in just 94 balls to help his team gain the all-important first innings lead in heroic fashion. "The ball was coming onto my bat nicely. I enjoyed my innings and am glad it helped us gain lead. I need to keep working hard," Ankolekar told TOI.
The 21-year-old had put in a series of impressive performances for the India Under-19 team a couple of years back - he was the Player of the tournament in the U-19 Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and then did well in the U-19 World Cup in South Africa too. The youngster, who has played three List A and 9 T20s for Mumbai, was a part of the team for both the white ball tournaments this season. He still has to make his Ranji Trophy debut, though.
Brief scores:
Central Railway Sports Association 317 & 141 (Amit Paunikar 30; Rishabh Karwa 5-33, Atharva Poojari 3-16) vs Jain Irrigation 267 (Suved Parkar 126*; Vinit Dhulap 4-36, Sagar Jadhav 3-63, Manish Rao 2-49). Result: Match drawn; Central Railway took 1st innings lead. Day 2: Indian Navy Sports Control Cell 254 & 100-4 (Lovekesh Bansal 46*; Sachin Chaudhari 2-18, Ravi Jangid 2-25) vs Income Tax Sports &Recreation Club 'A' 353 (Ravi Jangid 39, Sai Chavan 30; Atharva Ankolekar 154; Nishan Singh 4-73, Vipin Singh 3-33, Ranjeet Darji 2-87).
Group 'B'
Mumbai Customs 177 & 167 (Prasad Pawar 73*; Sylvester Dsouza 5-25, Tushar Deshpande 4-31) vs BPCL 386-7. Result: Outright win by BPCL who won by an innings and 42 runs. Indian Oil 537 & 209-9 decl (Atharva Kale 57*, Khizar Dafedar 37, Rohan Raje 30; Ankeet Chavan 5-69, Atharva Kardile 2-69, Ashay Dube 2-25) vs Air India 187 & 79-2 (Rudra Dhandey 31, Jash Ganiga 28). Result: Match drawn; Indian Oil took 1st innings lead.
