The Chemplast cricket team lifted the prestigious Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup for the first time this year. The tournament featured strong teams with many cricketers who have played international cricket taking part in it. The Chemplast team gave a fine demonstration of the art of scoring runs when needed, recording a remarkable seven-wicket win over India Pistons (IP) in the final of the tournament at the Gymkhana Grounds, Secunderabad, on September 11, 2000.
The final promised to be a high scoring match with both the teams boasting a strong batting line-up. After skipper Robin Singh won the toss and elected to bat, IP suffered an initial set back losing former test opener Vikram Rathore, run out by a brilliant direct hit. Hemanth Kumar showed maturity in his knock of 134. His 110 run partnership with Robin Singh helped IP put up a challenging total of 280.
Chemplast in reply got off to a good start but lost 3 quick wickets including the prolific Dinesh Mongia to be reduced to 68 for 3. The match looked evenly balanced when Jatin Paranjpe joined Sujith Somasunder in the middle. Jatin made his intentions clear by attacking the bowlers smacking three lovely boundaries in an over of Shahbuddin to begin with. As the innings progressed, he punished every bowler who dared to turn his arm smashing as many as 6 sixers, some of them soaring very high.
Chemplast team which won the Coromandel King Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup cricket tournament
The ten boundaries were also struck with power and authority. On the other hand Sujith was composed and gave Jatin admirable support but never lagged behind in keeping the score board ticking. He was unlucky not to post his century. The pair put on 216 runs in an unbroken fourth wicket stand in 30.1 overs bringing about Chemplast’s triumph in the coveted Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup. Jatin Paranjpe hit an unbeaten 115 (90 balls, 10 x 4, 6 x 6) and the superbly-paced, unbeaten 97 (128 balls, 9 x 4, 3 x 6) by opener Sujith was just what Chemplast badly needed, chasing a huge target of 281.
Despite Hemanth Kumar’s century in the IPs innings, Chemplast had vital breakthroughs when Veeranan (two for 34) chipped in, backed by off-spinner Ganesh Kumar who was instrumental in putting the brakes in the final overs of the IPs innings.
The semifinal promised an exciting contest. Pentasoft had a strong batting line up in their skipper and Indian opener Sadagopan Ramesh with Hrishikesh Kanitkar and S S Das to follow. Ramesh and Arvind gave their team a rousing start putting on 59 in just 9.3 overs. Pentasoft looked set for a big score posting 120 for 1 off 17 overs until an excellent catch by Sujith Somasunder running 20 yards backwards ended Ramesh’s innings. Thereafter two brilliant run outs of S S Das and Hrishikesh Kanitkar set panic in the Pentasoft camp as they frittered away the advantage of a rousing start and were dismissed for a modest 213. The bowling honours belonged to Dinesh Mongia who conceded just 22 runs for 3 wickets off ten overs.
Chemplast began their chase with Sujith and Ganesh laying the foundation with an opening stand of 54. Southpaw, Dinesh Mongia made a mockery of the modest target in notching up a classy unbeaten 112. He executed some glorious cover drives and was severe on the short balls. It was a tribute to his excellence that none of the Pentasoft bowlers including Test discard
Venkatapathy Raju could pose any problems. His 112 of 98 balls ensured a victory in the 36th over. Chemplast played like true champions throughout, winning all their matches convincingly for the well deserved title.
The scores of the final:
India Pistons: 280 for nine in 50 overs (Madanagopal 31, Hemanth Kumar 134, Robin Singh 44) lost to Chemplast: 283 for three in 43.1 overs (Ganesh Kumar 33, Sujith Somasunder 97 not out, Jatin Paranjpe 115 not out).
The scores of the semifinal:
At NFC grounds: Pentasoft 213 in 48.4 overs (S Ramesh 35, T Pavan Kumar 46, Veeranan three for 36, Dinesh Mongia three for 22) lost to Chemplast 214 for three in 35.4 overs (Ganesh Kumar 63, Dinesh Mongia 112 not out).
At Gymkhana: India Pistons 218 (Vikram Rathore 38, Robin Singh 80 not out, D J Gokulakrishnan four for 46) beat India Cements 169 in 47.4 overs (Sunil Oasis 77, Satyajit Medappa three for 26).
League 1: Chemplast 252 for 7 in 50 overs (Dinesh Mongia 101, Vasanth Saravanan 38, Jatin Paranjpe 25, Ajay Kudua 25 not out, A Piprode 2 for 29, Amol Jickhar 2 for 57) beat Vidharbha 128 in 35 overs (Ali Akbar 30, Balajee 2 for 30, Veeranan 3 for 59, Vasu 2 for 7, Ganesh Kumar 3 for 12).
League 2: Chemplast 287 in 47.3 overs (Sujith 104, Jatin 96 not out, Ajay Kudua 34, Shivaji Yadav 2 for 44) beat Hyderabad 170 for 9 in 50 overs (D Madhu 33, Veeranan 3 for 28, Ganesh Kumar 2 for 28).
League 3: BPL 188 for 8 in 50 overs (Nizamuddin 25, Yeragoud 101 not out, Sadab Jakathi 30, Balajee 2 for 32, Veeranan 2 for 30) lost to Chemplast 188 for 5 in 39.4 overs (Jatin Paranjpe 122, Ajay Kudua 31 not out, Nithin Mukhin 3 for 16).