First win for Orange – The Hitavada

 

Neco Master Blaster slump to third straight defeat
n By Paritosh Pramanik
ORANGE Tigers bowlers bowled with purpose to curb Neco Master Blaster batters as they eked out their first win of the season with a 54 runs victory in the Vidarbha Premier League Season 2 here at VCA’s Jamtha Stadium on Friday.
Orange Tigers first posted a challenging 180-9 in 20 overs, thanks to half centuries from Mandar Mahale and Vishesh Tiwari. The bowlers, led by Saurabh Dubey (3-24) and Shreyas Padole (3-29), then did not give room to Neco Master Blaster bundling them out at 126 in 18.4 overs.
Defending champions Neco Master Blaster’s plan to take the game deep backfired as they could not maintain the required run rate. This helped Orange Tigers bowlers take control of the match. They bowled a decent line and did not give Blaster’s space to free their arms.
Spinner Padole broke Master Blaster’s middle order taking three wickets. He first sent Vedant Dighade (26) into the pavilion and then got Shantanu Rajput (9) and Tushar Kadu (36) in the same over to put pressure on Neco captain Jitesh Sharma (10).

But he too perished under the pressure of a huge target. His wicket in the 16th over spell doom as Neco Master Blaster suffered their third successive defeat. Aditya Thakare, who went unsold in the auction and was picked as a replacement, took two
wickets.
Earlier, Neco Master Blaster pacer Dipesh Parwani took four wickets but Orange Tigers’ Mahale and Tiwari hit responsible fifties to score 180-9. At one stage, Orange Tigers were in deep trouble with 124 for 9 in 16 overs.
But Tiwari justified his price tag of Rs 7 lakh hitting 37-ball unbeaten 60 runs to take their side post a competitive total. Tiwari and Aditya Thakare added 56 runs for the last wicket in which the latter’s contribution was only five runs. Tiwari hit six boundaries and four sixes in his unbeaten innings.
The other batter who showed discipline in the middle was Mandar Mahale who hit 50 at top of the order. Kshitiz Dahiya managed 22-ball 29. Orange Tigers scored 56 runs in the last four overs which helped them reach 180.
Neco Master Blaster’s Parwani struck timely blows to deny Orange Tigers any space to score freely.

He would have got the first fifer of the season but over-stepped when he got Tiwari in the 18th over.
Though Orange Tigers scored 60 in powerplay, they also lost three top order batters. Their start was not a slam-bang one. It was a sedate beginning. A six came in every over from the start but at the same time Neco Master Blaster bowlers succeeded in taking wickets.
When Rohit Binkar (7) tried to pace up the innings, Parwani (4-0-40-4) got him caught at deep extra over by Adhyayan Daga. Next over Ananmay Jayaswal got captain Yash Rathod (1) caught behind by wicketkeeper Vedant Dighade.
There was more trouble for Orange Tigers as they lost Dhruv Shorey (10) inside poweplay.
Orange Tigers scored 88 runs at the halfway mark. But Mahale lost concentration immediately after scoring his fifty as he gave a simple catch to Abhishek Gupta at point region.
But Tiwari made sure they post a huge total and his unbeaten 60 fetched him the man of the match award.