PMRT65 Cricket Tournament

27th Dec - Go Sports Academy.

Rahul Hatkar Fellowship Convener PMRT 65

Cricket: The common religion and passion of India. With our national side finishing the year on such a high, we Pune tablers could not be left far behind Saturday, the 27th of Dec played host to the day night 8-8 (8 over’s/ 8 a side) cricket tournament hosted by Pune Mid-Town Round Table 65. The cool winter evening coupled with the warmth of the spirit of tabling was the perfect combination to close a great year of tabling. The event was enjoyed by PRT15, PURT 144, PSRT 177, PHRT 182 and keeping in mind the extension of the organization, prospective and twinklers were also invited to the tournament thus comprising a total of 6 teams. The venue for the event was the very exclusive Go-Sports Academy with its lush green turf and bright halogens. After a few warm up over’s shared by players of all the teams the event got underway just as the sun was setting at 6pm. With the ground being large enough, we could accommodate 2 matches simultaneously. The first match between host table 65 and this year’s area AGM hosts PSRT 177 went down to the last ball where a risky second run helped seal the win for the hosts. On the other hand, PURT 144 was seen struggling against a very dominant PRT 15 with some of its highly experienced players bowling a fine length and batting superbly as well. The next rubber of the qualifying round saw table 177 bounce back against PHRT 182 and table 144 beating the united team. The final round of qualifying matches saw host table 65 not taking any chances and with a premium effort with fielding and bowling, restricted PHRT 182 to a very small score while getting them all out. PRT 15 too made easy work of getting past the united team and sealing a place in the semi finals. By now the winter chill was in the air and after a brief pause for some hot soup, cold drinks, brief meetings and fun filled commentary, the tournament was ready for the next level. The first semi final was played between PRT 15 and PMRT 65; the second one being played between PSRT 177 and PURT 144.
For the second time, brilliant bowling and fielding ensured that 65 kept the scoring of PRT 15 in check and with regular wickets it was only a matter of time before they were totally on top of the game. The relatively small total posted by 15 was achieved by PMRT 65 whilst losing only a single wicket towards the end with couple of over’s to spare. The second semi final was a much closer fought competition with table 177 tipping 144 to seal a place in the finals. With the close knit encounter in the first round between tables 65 and 177, all eyes were on the final with the expectation of another close match. Another brief refreshment/ dinner break of about 20 minutes and both captains were out in the middle for the final toss. The toss was won by Neelesh Khandelwal, the captain of PMRT 65 and he chose to field just as the team had done for the rest of the tournament. Though some of the teams were already out of the tournament, one could see some of their players stay back and enjoy all the arrangements made for the evening. By now it was close to 11pm and the temperature was clearly into single digits. The spirit of young tabling could be seen with twinklers of 65 doubling up as cheerleaders with pom-poms and slogans. Table 177 started very well and with some steady batting the made a respectable score of 49 off of the stipulated 8 over’s. As PMRT 65 came out to bat, one could see the confidence mustered by 177 owing to a good performance by their batsmen. Though they were not to be put down easily, a steady start with some calculated shots by the openers of 65 made sure no wickets were lost. From the 3rd over though, the batsmen put the pedal to the metal and with ample cheering they gained the confidence to bat through the innings. Finally PMRT 65 made it through very cleanly and proudly lifted the trophy. All in all it was a successful event enjoyed by the tabling families. 2008 has been a mixed year for the most of us and it was nice to see so many tablers come out and enjoy the game in its true spirit.