Bhopal's junior cricketers lift prestigious Heeralal trophy

BHOPAL: Tuesday brought double delight for Bhopal cricket after their juniors won under-18 Heeralal Gaikwad trophy for the second time in a row and seniors entered the final of the prestigious Yashwantrao Memorial cricket trophy.
Proving their mettle again, Bhopal's junior grabbed the under-18 Heeralal Gaikwad trophy defeating Rewa on the basis of first innings lead.
Resuming their overnight score of 93 without losing any wicket, Rewa's batsmen failed to score with the asking run rate as they were restricted to 308 for the loss of 5 wickets. As the rule of the final match, Bhopal was adjudged winner for their first innings lead. Bhopal had scored 491 for the loss of 8 wickets against Rewa's 230 runs in the first innings.
Bhopal, on the concluding day, never allowed the hosts Rewa to gain an upper hand with their disciplined bowling attack. Despite having all wickets in hand, Rewa never looked comfortable in their second innings.
"Our strategy was to discourage batsmen from scoring runs. Bowlers bowled with the strategy that ended in Bhopal winning the tournament," coach Ghufran said.
In the semi-final of senior inter-division tournament played at Indore against Sagar, Bhopal team registered a comfortable win of 47 run. On the final day, Bhopal set 297 runs target.
After shinning with the ball, Jatin Saxena proved his selection worth in the team with his important 96 runs to the total. Sameer Qureshi scored 67 while skipper Murtuza Ali added 50 runs to the total.
Defending the total, Bhopal's Jatin with his 'right-spot' turning red-cherry made the going tough for Sagar. After scalping seven wickets in first innings, Jatin packed half of the team in the second innings. His five wickets haul restricted Sagar's total to 250 in 48.5 overs.
Danish Rein and Aditya Shrivastava scalped two wickets each. Bhopal will take on Indore in final match at Indore from January 24.