Grand 11 Combined Stars emerged as champions of Raipur Press Club Cricket Mandai as they defeated Electronics Media Combined XI in the final, played at Netaji Subhash Stadium here on Saturday.
Winning the toss, Grand 11 invited Electronics XI to bat first and restricted them to 75 runs in stipulated 12 overs as Hemant Dongre and Lokesh Ghote excelled with ball. While Lokesh claimed a hat-trick in the last over the innings, Hemant claimed three crucial wickets in the opening and middle overs.
Similarly, Jagannath Rao (Swaraj Express), Laxman Lekhwani (RNS) and Partha Sarathi Behera (The HItavada) showed grit with the bat to take their team home while chasing down the target of 76. Grand 11 registered victory with two overs to spare. Other members of the team who played an important role on and off the field are Anil Pusadkar, Sanjay Shukla, Amit Bagh, Satish Namdev, Smruti Ranjan, Brij Sahu and Mukesh Suman (Grand News), Tilak (Agradoot), and Hemant Sharma (Swaraj Express).
Hemant was adjudged as best bowler of the tournament while Rizwan Qureshi was declared best batsman. Similarly, Lokesh and Laxman shared Man of the Match award while Lovender Singh Singhotra was given Man of the Series award.
State Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Umesh Patel was the chief guest of the final match and he distributed prizes to the teams and individual players who performed well. Chhattisgarh Textbook Corporation (CGTC) Chairman Shailesh Nitin Trivedi and Chhattisgarh Olympic Association general secretary Gurucharan Singh Hora also graced the occasion. The guests also announced cash prize for finalists on the occasion. Chhattisgarh Congress Sports Cell president Pravin Jain was also present and he was feted by the Sports Minister for his contribution. Press Club president Damu Ambedare and Sports In-charge Vijay Mishra were also present during the prize distribution function.
