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Air India defeated hosts Sahara India by 54 runs in the final to bag the top honours in the 57th Sahara City Homes All India Sheesh Mahal Cricket Tournament at KD Singh 'Babu' Stadium, Lucknow on Saturday. For the first time, the tournament was played in T20 format with white ball with players donning coloured clothing. However, due to rains in the morning, the final match was delayed by over four hours and ultimately it was decided to make the final a 12 overs-a-side affair.
Batting first after winning the toss, Air India mustered 113 runs losing four wickets in the given 12 overs. Ajeet Chandela (44 runs), Chandan Madan (29 runs) and Shafiq Khan (23 runs) batted responsibly for the team. IS Reddy, Rohan Gavaskar, S Sreesanth and Ranadev Bose claimed apiece each.
In reply, Sahara India could score 59 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the same number of overs. Besides Yashpal Singh (18), only a couple of batsmen could even reach the double-digit mark due to the accurate bowling by the Air India bowlers. Ajeet Chandela took three wickets while Ankit Chauhan claimed two wickets. Avinash Yadav and Siddharth Trivedi took one wicket each. Chandela was declared man-of-the-match for his all-round efforts.
Team India player Harbhajan Singh and head of corporate communications Sahara India Pariwar, Abhijeet Sarkar and Suraiyya Askari, wife of late Askari Hasan-- the founder of Sheesh Mahal cricket gave away the prizes to the winners and runners-ups. The tournament carries a total prize money of Rs 25 lakh. The winners were given Rs. 8.75 lakh and the runners-up became richer by Rs 7.75 lakh. Abhishek Jhunjhunwala of Sahara India was adjudged 'Man-of-the-Tournament'. Sahara officials informed that the change in prize money from Rs 11 lakhs for the winners and Rs 5.5 lakhs for the runners-up was done "on the request of the finalist teams prior to the match, as both the teams felt that in the 12 overs-a-side match, it was luck which played a major role therefore the difference in the prize money should not be much." Sheesh Mahal is India's oldest summer tournament. It was adopted by Sahara in 2006.
Brief Scores: Air India: 113 for four in 12 overs ( Ajeet Chandela 44, Chandan Madan 29, Shafiq Khan 23; Ranadev Bose 1 for 15, IS Reddy 1 for 22, Rohan Gavaskar 1 for 20, S Sreesanth 1 for 20); Sahara India: 59 for eight in 12 overs ( Yashpal Singh 18, A Jhunjhunwala 11, IS Reddy 10 not out; Ajeet Chandela 3 for 16, Ankit Chauhan 2 for 19, S Trivedi 1 for 12, Avinash Yadav 1 for 12). Man-of-the-match: Ajeet Chandela (Air India).
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