However, they fell short by 11 runs and were bowled out in the 32nd over to hand Wadekar XI their third victory on the trot in the Elf-Vengsarkar Under-14 overs-limited cricket tournament.

Earlier, left-hander Rohan Saldanha's unbeaten 102 (108b, 124m, 14x4) paved way for Polly Umrigar XI's second victory. They trounced Dilip Sardesai's XI by 50 runs.

Electing to bat, Wadekar XI were bowled out for 186 in 31.4 overs with medium-pacer Markesh Bhat (4-30) doing most of the damage. Pradosh Mayekar's 58 (37b, 50m, 7x4) and his 64-run stand off nine overs for the sixth wicket with Parag Madkaikar (29) were the only bright spots in the Wadekar XI innings.

In reply, Desai XI lost wickets at regular intervals with only skipper Swapnoj Thakur (51: 59b,72m, 9x4) standing tall among ruins. However, Bhat and Pawar stemmed the rot with a 45-run association off 7.2 overs for the ninth wicket. Though Bhat batted gamely till the end, he ran out of partners to script what would have been a thrilling victory.

Leg-spinner Madkaikar struck telling blows to return with figures of 4-34 and well assisted by left-arm spinner Raunak Shah (2-18).

Umrigar XI skipper Saldanha led from the front in justifying his decision to bat first with a fine knock. He was also involved in a 74-run partnership with Viraj Chavan (31) for the third wicket that saw Umrigar XI rattle up 211-4 in the stipulated 35 overs.

A 68-run alliance between Sahil Kukreja (65) and skipper Rohan Sadrjoshi (26) had put Sardesai XI well on course. But once these two departed the innings lost momentum.

Wadekar XI now lead the league standings with 12 points from three matches followed by Umrigar XI (eight from two matches) and Padmakar Shivalkar XI (two from one match).

Brief Scores: Polly UmrigarXI 211-4 in 35 overs (Rohan Saldanha 102 n.o., Viraj Chavan 31, Sanket Bhaye 20; Kshemal Waingankar 2-43) bt Dilip Sardesai XI 161-8 in 35 overs (Sahil Kukreja 65, Rohan Sadrjoshi 26; Vishal Prasad 2-32, Tanmay Joshi 2-28, Viraj Chavan 2-22) by 50 runs. Man of the Match: Rohan Saldanha.

Ajit Wadekar XI 186 in 31.4 overs (Sushant Vaze 23, Pradosh Mayekar 58, Parag Madkaikar 29; Markesh Bhatt 4-30, Parag Khanapurkar 2-31) bt Ramakant Desai XI 175 in 32 overs (Swapnoj Thakur 51, Markesh Bhatt 39 n.o., Rajiv Pawar 19; Raunak Shah 2-18, Parag Madkaikar 4-34) by 11 runs.

Man of the Match: Markesh Bhat.