The Chemplast cricket team lifted the prestigious Moin-ud-Dowla Gold Cup for the second time. It was a tough fight at every stage for the young Chemplast team, in almost all the matches leading to the final on September 14, 2002. Finally, they deservingly, won the cup, with youth and experience combining seamlessly in perfect teamwork. In the semifinal, Chemplast recorded a five-wicket victory over MRF (Chennai).
Diwakar Vasu bowled well for Chemplast to return the excellent figures of 4.1-0-14-5. In reply, Chemplast played with flair and professionalism. Openers Sujith Somasundar and Gautam Gambhir, Hemang Badani, S Badrinath, and J Harish batted well. In the final against South India Corporation (Agencies) Ltd., [SICAL], D Vasu and his team recorded a 79-run win at the Gymkhana Grounds, Secunderabad. Chemplast put up a challenging 244 for 8 in 50 overs for SICAL to chase.
After openers Sujith Somasundar and Gautam Gambhir put on 54, two useful partnerships of 74 each for the third wicket between Badani (33) and S Badrinath (33) and for the sixth wicket between J Harish (54) and T R Arasu (37) put Chemplast on a firm footing. Chemplast had reason to be happy with the young team’s performance.
Medium pacers L Balaji (two for 25), C Ganapathi (three for 28) and left arm spinner Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan (two for 31) were the main wicket-takers.
The scores (final): Chemplast 244 for eight in 50 overs (S Badrinath 33, Hemang Badani 33, J Harish 54, T R Arasu 37) beat SICAL 165 in 42.1 overs (Prasanna 57, Reuben Paul 32, Ganapathi three for 28). The scores (semifinal): MRF (Chennai) 211 in 49.1 overs (S Ramesh 41, M R Shrinivas 35, C Hemanth Kumar 31, D Vasu five for 14) lost to Chemplast 212 for five in 43.4 overs (S Badrinath 48, Hemang Badani 36, T Kumaran three for 50).
Exciting KSCA final : Earlier, Chemplast missed an opportunity to win the KSCA Trophy at Bangalore for the second year in succession, losing an exciting final by a 25-run margin to India Cements.
Star trio : Hemang Badani, Dinesh Mongia and L Balaji of Jolly Rovers were recently selected to play for Board President’s XI against the touring West Indies team. The two left handed batsmen Badani (67) and Mongia (101 n.o.) batted exceedingly well.