Akhileshwar slams century to help Gowtham Model School emerge Under-14 champions

Akhileshwar hogged the limelight as he powered Gowtham Model School (West Marredpally) to a 116-run victory over Gowtham World School (Saroornagar) in the final of the HCA Under-14 Inter-school and Districts one-day knock-out tournament on Wednesday.

Akhileshwar, who had scored a century in the semifinal, took off from where he left as he hammered a 150-ball 159 which was studded with 25 hits to the fence. His onslaught left the rival bowlers in disarray. K Sai Smaran made a useful 77 and G Sai Vaibhav remained unbeaten on 36 as Gowtham ran up 324 for two in their allotted 50 overs. Akhileshwar, who has been in tremendous form in the tournament, had also struck a century in the league phase.

Gowtham World School were never in the hunt, and they could manage 208 for seven with P Naksh Reddy remaining not out on 55. Shreyas Ande made 49 and Sreekruthan scored 44.

Gowtham Model School’s Akhileshwar has been in tremendous form in the tournament. He scored a century in the league phase and one in the semifinal before hammering a 150-ball 159 in the final against Gowtham World School on Wednesday

Brief scores: HCA U-14 Inter-schools and Districts tournament (final): Gowtham Model School (West Marredpally) 324/2 in 50 overs (Akhileshwar 159, K Sai Smaran 77, G Sai Vaibhav 36 no) beat Gowtham World School (Saroornagar) 208/7 in 50 overs (A Sreekruthan 44, Shreyas Ande 49, P Naksh Reddy 55no).

Rahul, Sacheit among wickets, Shashank hammers 168

Spinner Rahul Baslas and Sacheit Binjrajka proved quite a handful for the Gemini Friends on the second day of their semifinal clash in the A Division Two-Day League Championship at the Gymkhana ground.

Replying to East Marredpally’s massive 540 for nine, Gemini Friends collapsed to 166 for nine as Rishab bagged five for 29 and Sacheit took four for 22. After conceding a huge 374-run lead, Gemini Friends batters, on this occasion, put up a fight. By stumps, they reached 231 for five with Mohd Taha Sheikh batting on 47 and Owais going strong on 76. Earlier, K Sriniketh had scored an exact 50.

In the other semifinal, Shashank Mehrotra hammed a century, but Deccan Wanderers fell short of the first innings lead by 29 runs against Evergreen.

Replying to Evergreen’s 395 for eight, Deccan Wanderers made a spirited charge. Shashank led the onslaught with a 166-ball 168 with 22 boundaries and six over the ropes. He was ably supported by Kranti Kiran (53), P Nitish Reddy (47) and Mudassir Ali (35) but their efforts could not take Deccan Wanderers over the finish line. Wanderers made 366 for nine.

At stumps, Evergreen were 170 without loss in six overs.

Brief scores:  A Division (2-day) League Championship (SFs): Evergreen 395/8 in 87.2 overs & 17/0 in 6 overs vs Deccan Wanderers 366/9 in 78.4 (P Nitish Reddy 47, Mudassir Ali 35, Kranthi Kiran 53, Shashank Mehrotra 168). East Marredpally 540/9 in 90 overs vs Gemini Friends 166/9 in 41.2 overs (M Rakesh Yadav 36, Chirag Yadav 31, K Sriniketh 37, Rishab Baslas 5/29, Sacheit Binjrajka 4/22) & 231/5 in 40 overs (K Sriniketh 50, Owais 76no, Mohd Taha Sheikh 47no).