Patna: Defending champions MP Verma XI defeated Spandan Club, West Bengal, by eight wickets in the All India MP Verma Prize Money Invitational Cricket Tournament being held under the aegis of the MP Verma Foundation at Urja Stadium on Tuesday.
With three defeats in a row, Spandan Club crashed out of the tournament.
Batting first, Spandan Club Kolkata scored 118 runs all out off 22 overs. Tirath scored 33 runs, Ankit made 28 runs, Mayur Dolia scored 22 runs, and Bobby Yadav scored 21 runs for Spandan Club.
For MP Verma XI, Sanchit Gupta of Chapra took 6 wickets by giving away just 12 runs with left arm spin bowling. Emerging fast bowler Prashant Kumar Singh bagged two wickets for 19 runs. Apoorva Anand captured one wicket for 32 runs.
Chasing, 118 to win, MP Verma XI achieved the target, losing only two wickets along the way. Once again, the hero of the match was Nalanda lad Arnav Kishore, who scored 55 not out in just 37 balls. Earlier, Bihar Ranji Trophy pair Yashasvi Rishabh and Lakhan Raja started the MP Verma innings well. Yashasvi scored 29 runs, and Lakhan Raja made 11 runs.
Sanchit Gupta was named the man of the match. He was awarded Rs 1,000 by Sachin Srivastava. The winning team, MP Verma XI, captain Lakhan Raj, received a cash award of Rs 10,000 from the chief guest, Sachin Srivastava while the captain of Spandan Club received a cash award of Rs 5000.
On Wednesday, the last round robin league match of the tournament will be played between Rest Bihar XI and MP Verma XI. The winner of this match will face Jharkhand XI in the final on April 21.
