CCI reclaim Kanga League crown after 35 years

The Dr HD Kanga Cricket League’s matches on Friday witnessed intense competition in Division ‘A’, with Cricket Club of India (CCI) emerging champions after securing a better quotient (2.228) than Parsee Gymkhana (1.999). Both teams finished with 15 points from six matches.

After CCI’s in-form left-arm spinner Dhrumil Matkar (5-51) and pacer Irfan Umair (3-15) helped restrict hosts MIG CC to 131, opener Akhil Herwadkar’s 45 and Akash Parkar’s unbeaten 27 saw CCI declare at 132-4, earning a crucial first-innings lead and three points. At stumps, MIG were 9-1 in their second innings.

This is CCI’s fifth Kanga League title and first since 1991, when India’s 1983 World Cup-winning captain Sandeep Patil led their triumph. “It’s massive to learn that Sandeep sir, who is our Mumbai team mentor, led CCI to the Kanga League title previously. As CCI captain, it feels great to emulate his achievement. In the last few games, Dhrumil has been in very good rhythm and we were confident that he would give us wickets,” CCI skipper Akash Anand told mid-day.

CCI vice-chairman Mayank Kahandwala, who was part of the 1991 team, said: “History has repeated itself after nearly 35 years. I was fortunate to be a part of that Kanga League-winning team in 1991. Coming from behind to get outright victories in their last two matches is a great achievement by this CCI team.”

At Parsee Gymkhana, Aditya Tare’s 65-ball 84 helped the hosts declare at 241-9. Karnatak SC were bowled out for 235, with Siddhesh Gavande scoring 92. Left-arm spinner Harikesh Yadav claimed 7-84. “A couple of dropped chances didn’t let us win this game by a big margin of 80-90 runs. That would have helped us go ahead on quotient,” Parsee Gym head coach Vinayak Mane told mid-day.