Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 25: Outstanding coordination, brilliant team work, extraordinary cohesiveness and composure helped Jammu and Kashmir to register its third consecutive win in the ongoing National School Games in the discipline of cricket under-14 boys to enter quarterfinals at Mehboob Nagar in Telangana.
After thrashing Gujarat and Chhattisgarh in first two pool matches earlier, the formidable team of Jammu and Kashmir defeated strong Goa in the third match in its pool to make way for the quarterfinal stage.
This 5-day cricketing extravaganza, in which 23 teams drawn from various States and Union Territories of the Country are taking part, is being organized by the Government of Telangana, under the auspices of School Games Federation of India (SGFI).
Earlier, winning the toss and batting first, J&K scored a fighting total of 108 runs in the allotted 15 overs, losing 8 wickets in the process. Rayees Hamid Bhatt was the top scorer with 32 runs off just 19 balls, while Wasid Khan contributed 27 runs off 17 balls. Musaif Ajaz contributed with 13 runs off 12 balls and Nikhil Partap chipped in with 10 runs off 12 balls. For Goa, Tushar took 1 wicket by conceding 15 runs in his 3 overs, while all other batsmen from J&K ran themselves out because of lack of judgement and coordination between the wickets.
In reply, Goa managed to score 98 runs in the stipulated 15 overs by losing 5 wickets and lost the match by a narrow margin of 10 runs. Ketan and Tushar scored 25 runs each for Goa. For J&K, Danish, Mujtaba, Wasid, Sajid and Praful claimed 1 wicket each by conceding 15, 17, 19, 20 and 25 runs in 3 overs each respectively.
The Jammu and Kashmir team is being accompanied by BCCI Level-1 coach Suresh Singh and former Ranji Trophy player, Imtiyaz Baba as manager and coach respectively and the team is participating in the Tournament under the banner of the Department of Youth Services and Sports, Government of Jammu and Kashmir.
Now, in the quarterfinals, Jammu and Kashmir will lock horns with their rivals at the same venue tomorrow.
J&K team: Rayees Sidiq, Musaif Ajaz, Praful Dhar, Amir Shafi Shah, Aditya Sharma, Dishant Kundal, Nikhil Partap, Mohd Wasid Khan, Sayed Ayoob, Gowhar Imtiyaz, Umar Farooq, Danish Hussain, Rayees Hamid Bhatt, Mujtaba, Marutvan and Ayush Andotra.
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