May 1: A hat-trick by off-spinner Apurva Sane and half centuries by Man of the Match Darshan Awte (88) and Sagar Dungule (67) steered Pune XI to an impressive 156-run win over hosts Elf-Vengsarkar Academy `B' in the first round of the six team round robin league for the Elf Cup in Under-14 Cricket Tournament at the Oval, here, on Thursday.

Pune XI had a bad start after winning the toss and electing to bat, losing three wickets for 84 runs. However, the fourth wicket pair of opener Awte and Dungule batted boldly to add 110 runs and helped their side to score 240 for six in the alloted 35 overs.

Awte's knock was studded with 16 hits to the fence while Dungule struck ten fours.

In reply, EVA `B' bowed to the guiles of off-spinner Sane, who captured three wickets off successive deliveries. In the event, the hosts were shot out for a measly 84 in just 19.4 overs with Sane ending up with figures of 3 for 18 in six overs.

Nine-year-old Bravish Shetty was the only batsman to catch the eye with 24 runs.

EVA `A' too lost to Sambaran Banerjee Academy, Calcutta by four wickets to make it a bad start for the hosts.

A fine all-round performance by Man of the Match Mohammad Misdahuddin was instrumental in the Calcutta team's win. After taking two wickets with his left-arm spin to restrict the rivals for 149 in 34.4 overs, he went on to compile a sedate 30 to steer his side to victory.

Brief scores: Elf-Vengsarkar Academy `A' 149 in 34.4 overs (Paul Valthaty 21; D Sensharma 3-18, M Misdahuddin 2-33) lost to S Banerjee Academy, Calcutta 153-6 in 27.1 overs (M Ziauddin 25, M Misdahuddin 30, Javed Ali 25; Valthaty 2-28, Amol Vinod 2-23) by six wickets. MoM: M. Misdahuddin Pune XI 240-6 in 34 overs (Darshan Awte 88, Sagar Dungule 67; Parag Khanapurkar 2-26) bt Elf-Vengsarkar Academy `B' 84 in 19.4 overs (Bravish Shetty 24; Apurva Sane 3-18, Rohit Darwat 2-8) by 156 runs.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.