New English, Sule Guruji ooze confidence ahead of all-IES finale

Omkar Patankar and Yash Chavan

An exciting finish is on the cards as IES VN Sule Guruji (Dadar) and IES New English (Bandra) clash in the three-day final of the MSSA Harris Shield inter-school cricket tournament at the Wankhede Stadium, Churchgate, beginning on Thursday.

Interestingly, though both skippers - Omkar Patankar, 15, of the Bandra school, and Yash Chavan, 15, of the Dadar outfit - weren't sure of the final format since the league matches were day-long 45-overs-a-side encounters and the semi-finals were two-day affairs.

However, MCA Apex Council member Nadim Memon clarified to mid-day that the final would be played over two innings for each team. The first innings comprising a maximum of 80 overs per side and the second innings being 40 overs each.

Omkar believes his school holds the advantage. "Two IES schools fighting for the title is special but I feel we hold a psychological edge since we have defeated Sule Guruji in our previous meeting, at an U-16 tournament for IES Schools in 2019," said Omkar.

IES Bandra defeated Swami Vivekanand (Kandivli), last edition's runners-up Don Bosco (Matunga), and Dr Antonio Da Silva (Dadar) in Group-B league matches.

On the other hand, Yash believes Sule Guruji's all around ability makes them favourites. "We have a solid all-round team. Our batsmen, particularly, opener Ayush Mhatre and Darsh Murkute have scored heavily, while our slow bowlers, including three left-arm spinners, have picked up wickets at crucial junctures. We outplayed holders Al-Barkaat English [Kurla] in the semis," said Yash.

Sule Guruji defeated Springfield Rizvi (Bandra), VK Krishna Menon School (Borivli), and Shardashram Vidyamandir English Medium School (Dadar) in Group-D league matches.