Mumbai schools boss quarters as Don Bosco joins VN Sule in Pro Star League semis  

Mumbai, May 16, 2018: Mumbai schools dominated the Pro Star League knockouts as Don Bosco, Matunga, joined IES VN Sule in the semi-final line-up with a 23-run win over Kolkata’s LMET International at DY Patil on Tuesday.

The Mumbai schools were mentored by pace ace Zaheer Khan, while LMET was trained by batting legend Sourav Ganguly during a week-long unique camp in Mumbai and Hyderabad respectively in the build-up to the T20 knockouts.

Don Bosco managed to put only 122 on the board after winning the toss and electing to bat. But their bowlers put in a solid display to thwart LMET International’s challenge and restrict them to just 97/7. Ritesh Nalawade bagged a brace, while Vijit Poojari, Nilay Pawar and Yash Kripal grabbed a scalp each.

On Monday, IES VN Sule had defeated Kolkata’s St Marks Boys by eight wickets.

Tuesday’s other quarter-final spelt more bad luck for Kolkata schools as National Gems School were also knocked out of the tournament. Shreenidhi International of Hyderabad booked their spot in the semis with a massive nine-wicket victory in the low-scoring affair.

Shreenidhi, who were mentored by VVS Laxman, dismissed their opponents for just 77. Pranay Verma and Nitin Sai Yadav ran through National Gems’ batting order with four and three wickets respectively. They later achieved their target in just eight overs for the loss of just one wicket.

Pro Star League is an U-16 grassroots revolution that was simultaneously contested in 10 cities (Mumbai, Jaipur, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Bengaluru) where over 900 schools battled for a chance to be mentored by legends of the sport. Teams that make it to the mentorship phase were given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be mentored by Sourav Ganguly (east zone), Yuvraj Singh (north zone), Zaheer Khan (west zone) and VVS Laxman (south zone). Top talent from the tournament will also be scouted for the 2018 Inter-School World Cup.

Brief scores:

Pro Star League QFs:

Don Bosco High School 122/9 in 20 overs (Vijit Poojari 32; Abhiroop ray 3/17, Amitabha Bhattacharyya 3/17) beat LMET International High School 99/7 in 20 overs (Pranit Mondal 26; Ritesh Nalawade 2/18) by 23 runs.

National Gems School 77/10 in 19.3 overs (Soumyadip Ghosh 16; Pranay Verma 4/11, Nitin Sai Yadav3/15) lost to Shreenidhi International 78/1 in 8 overs (Pranay Verma 33, Saiteja Mukamalla (wk); Ambhuj Kumar Singh 1/18)