The Desserts n More Sarsangan Super Series Cricket match played between Salcete Stallions and Madgaon Royals ended in a dramatic tie. Put in to bat, Madgaon Royals started on an attacking note, with the match reduced to 15 overs a side, due to the wet ground conditions. Even the loss of their skipper Damodar Pai Patnekar who made 16, didn’t seem to affect the run flow as the Royals batsmen Gaurish Shenvi Lotliker (50) and Prasheel Kamat (23) put on 58 runs for the 2nd wicket in only 39 balls to take the score to 87-2 in 9 overs.
Some lusty hitting by Kartik Hattangadi (30) and Vikram Gaitonde (18 no) helped the Royals put on a huge total of 157/6 in their allotted 15 overs. For the Stallions, Pratap Prabhugaonkar, Sahish Mahambrey and Saurabh Prabhudesai picked a wicket apiece.
In reply, Salcete Stallions got off to a decent start as Mahendra Audi (27) and Saurabh Prabhudesai (23) put on 44 runs in 6 overs. However, the need to score runs quickly to keep pace with the climbing run rate saw the Stallions lose quick wickets as they stumbled to 60-4 in 8 overs.
Saeesh Prabhudesai 42 not out (22 balls) played a gem of an innings stitching an important partnership of 55 runs in 30 balls for the 5th wicket with Samprabh Phaldesai 31 (16 balls), to get the Stallions right back into the match. The skipper Sahish Mahambrey, delivered when it mattered the most, hitting 22 runs in 4 balls with 3 x 6s and 1 x 4s off the left arm spinner Vikram Gaitonde, but fell with the Stallions needing 20 off the final over.
The final over saw Saeesh Prabhudesai batting like a man possessed as he kept smashing Gaurish Shenvi Lotliker taking 16 off the first 5 balls. Needing 4 off the final delivery, Saeesh managed to score 3 as the match ended in a dramatic tie.
Gaurish Shenvi Lotliker was awarded the Desserts n More Man of the Match medal and the Estilo Moderno Realty Man of the Match trophy along with a cash prize of Rs.2000 for his brilliant all round display for the Salcete Stallions. The presentation was done by Siddesh Sinai Amonkar, Nagnath Shanbhag and Adv Sahish Mahambrey in the presence of Gomakant Mahambrey.
