Players of the Silchar team receive the trophy at the Latasil ground in Guwahati on Sunday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Veteran cricket

Guwahati, Jan. 20: Alok Sarkar batted with flair and bowled with fire to help Silchar defeat Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) in the final of the 10th inter-district cricket tournament for veterans.

The match at the Latasil playground was a thrilling affair, reflected in the narrow victory margin of 10 runs.

Silchar posted 174 runs for the loss of nine wickets in the stipulated 25 overs and bowled out the ONGC men for 164 in 24.3 overs.

The champions had a shaky start, losing a few early wickets. However, a 57-run partnership between Sarkar and skipper Sujoy Dutta Roy helped the team put up a challenging score for their opponents to overhaul. Dutta Roy topscored for his side with a patient knock of 38 (7x4). Sarkar contributed 26 (2x4, 1x6).

Opener Madhu Suklabaidya chipped in with 23 and Abhijit Roy Choudhury scored 19. Subasish Choudhury contributed 13.

Deepu Das was the ONGC squad’s most successful bowler, taking two wickets for 20 runs.

Sarkar then went on the rampage with the ball, ripping apart the ONGC innings. He took four wickets for only 18 runs. Subasish Choudhury took two for 40.

Niranjan Das (48, 5x4, 1x6) was the topscorer for ONGC while Anupam Lachit (27), Zahir Ahmed (19) and Rajib Bora (15) were the other notable scorers for the side.

Sarkar’s was adjudged the Man of the Match.

In the first semifinal yesterday, ONGC defeated Guwahati on the basis of a better run-wicket ratio after the match ended in a tie.

Batting first, Guwahati scored 106 runs losing nine wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. ONGC reached 106 losing seven wickets in the 20 overs.

Chinmoy Baruah, who came to bat at number 10, topscored for Guwahati with an unbeaten 28. Only two other batsmen — Abhijit Das (15) and Achyuta Das (11) — could score in double digits. Rajesh Bawa and Ajit Hazarika took two wickets each conceding 17 and 20 runs.

ONGC, too, struggled initially, losing openers Anupam Lachit and Rajesh Bawa with the scoreboard reading 33. However, skipper Pabitra Dutta stepped in to consolidate the innings with a 46-run knock. Deepu Das and Niranjan Das made 19 and 13.

Rajib Rajbangshi, Biswajit Majumder and Salil Sinha took two wickets each.

In the second semifinal, Silchar defeated Gauhati High Court by seven wickets.