*Sameer Khajuria slams brilliant ton
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 17: Riding on a magnificent century by former First Class cricketer, Sameer Khajuria and good contributions with bat and ball by Sonu Singh, Sham Singh Langeh and Sunny, Singh Cricket Club Akhnoor crushed Friends Cricket Club Bhalwal by a huge margin of 252 runs in the inaugural match of the Chief Minister’s Cricekt Cup, being organized by Country Cricket Academy at Gharota, near here.
The Tournament is being organized in the memory of late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, former Chief Minister of J&K, under the supervision of Vikrant Sharma, Director Country Cricket Academy and Vivek Sharma, Managing Director.
Divisional Sports Officer (J) , Jammu and Kashmir State Sports Council, Ravi Singh was the chief guest on the opening ceremony, while former Duleep Trophy cricketer and poster boy of yesteryears, Ashwani Gupta was the guest of honour and Anjali Sharma was the special guest. Eminent educationist and scholar, Mansi Sharma was also present on the occasion.
Prominent among others present on the occasion were cricketing personalities and coaches of J&K State Sports Council including Rajan Singh, Parveen Kapahi, Sandeep Singh, Nazir Magray, Iqbal Singh, and Sonu.
A huge gathering of over 3000 people including sportspersons, Principals and staff of participating schools, senior citizens and school children attended the inaugural ceremony.
Earlier, Director CCA, Vikrant Sharma presented welcome address and gave brief report of the Tournament. He called upon the need of the sports to reach the rural settings so that the diversion from pugnacious activities of the youth can be made. He appreciated the parents for putting their children towards sports and extending thanks to State Sports Council for taking initiatives in promoting sports culture in rural areas.
“The Chief Minister’s Cup is for fostering friendship among the youth from various cultures of the State, besides providing talented cricketers opportunity to showcase their skill in quality cricket,” Mr Vikrant added.
The Trophies were unveiled by the chief guest and other dignitaries on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, the chief guest and the guest of honour, lavished praise on the organizers for holding 50-over match Tournament with superb cricketing facilities including ‘SG Tournament’ brand cricket balls.
A variety of cultural items was presented by the students of various schools. The schools which were part of the cultural programme included Project Model Higher Secondary School, ACM Public School, Raina Higher Secondary School, Neek Kamal Secondary School, The Global School, SD Memorial School Karwanda, Zee Kids School Patoli and Government School Bhalwal.
Earlier, winning the toss and batting first, Singh Cricket Club scored a mammoth total of 298 runs in the stipulated 40 overs, losing 8 wickets in the process. Sameer Khajuria scored brilliant 109 runs, while Sonu Singh contributed valuable 64 runs and Rohit Bhat chipped in with 25 runs. For Friends CC, Sunny took 3 wickets.
In reply, Friends Cricket Club Bhalwal bundled out for a meagre total of 36 runs in 17 overs. None of the batsman could cross double figure mark. For Singh Cricket Club, Sham Singh took 4 important wickets, while Sunny scalped 3 wickets.
The proceedings of the opening ceremony were conducted by Rajesh Dhar.
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