Anjuman-I-Islam Allana English School retained the Harris Shield title after outclassing Al Barkaat MMI English School, Kurla, by eight wickets in the final at Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. The outcome of the school championship title in the Dream Sports MSSA U-16 Inter-School Cricket Tournament had been questioned last time around after the record-tied final between Anjuman and Modern English School at the Brabourne Stadium. Anjuman were declared winners of the 128th Harris Shield on a first-innings lead of four runs, while some argued that the quotient rule should have been applied.
However, the 129th edition title stayed with Anjuman, and this time around, they made a strong statement with a dominant show. They defeated strong challengers Dnyandeep Seva Mandal High School by three wickets in the semifinal at MIG Cricket Club, Bandra, and later conquered Al Barkaat at Wankhede in style. The tournament had seen participation from over 200 schools, according to Nadim Memon, the MSSA Cricket Secretary. Eight teams qualified for the Super League before Anjuman, Al Barkaat, Dnyandeep, and General Education Academy, Chembur reached the last four. Al Barkaat had defeated GE Academy by five wickets with a chase of 290 inside 40 overs at DY Patil Stadium.
The three-day final was set up by Anjuman’s skipper Yuvan Sharma (5/38) and Aaarav Yadav (4/32), who took nine wickets between them and restricted Al Barkaat to 135 all-out in their first innings. The Fort school responded strongly with half centuries from opening batter Laxmanprasad Vishwakarma (55), Aarav Yadav (52), and Yuvraj Bhingare (73 not out). Yuvan also added a crucial 31 in the lower order to take his team to 268/9 in the allotted 80 overs with a big first innings lead of 133 runs.
Al Barkaat had to wipe out the deficit and then set a target in 40 overs in the second innings. Arhaan Patel scored an unbeaten century (105 in 120 balls) to add to his first innings fighting knock of 64, while Pradnyankur Bhalerao hit an unbeaten 67 as Al Barkaat reached 243 for 3 in 40 overs to set a target of 111 runs. The duo added 41 runs in the remaining four overs in the morning on Thursday to share an undefeated 125 runs for the fourth wicket. Left arm slow bowler Yuvan Sharma took two wickets to end the match with seven wickets.
Anjuman had to chase it in 40 overs, and they had all the time in the world to reach there. Despite losing two wickets early in the form of Umar Khute and Aarav Yadav, Laxmanprasad (53 not out) and Kabir Jagtap (43 not out) remained calm and erected an 88-run unheralded partnership for the third wicket to steer their team home in 19.5 overs. Abrar Shaikh, who took seven wickets in the first innings, finished the match with an eight-wicket haul.
Immediately after lunch, Laxmanprasad guided the ball towards the cover boundary to invite grand celebrations in the camp. It also brought his second half-century of the match. The presence of family members of cricketers and support staff, and cricket lovers in the MCA Pavilion made the atmosphere electric. The band celebrations were there, and some of the players also offered special prayers after the match.
Former India cricketers Dilip Vengsarkar and Karsan Ghavri congratulated the winners and encouraged the runners-up team to do better next time.
