St. Arnold’s School & HR Mahavidyalaya Win Padmanava Cup

Rourkela: St. Arnold’s School emerged champions in the fourth edition of Rourkela Open Inter School Cricket Tournament, while Hrushikesh Ray Mahavidyalaya lifted the trophy in the ninth Rourkela Open Inter College Tournament, winning the Padmanava Cup. The tournament concluded at Ispat Stadium yesterday.

Rourkela Sports Association (RSA) initiated this T20 cricket tournament for colleges of the city nine years ago. Five years later, it extended this tournament for school cricketers also. City based Padmanava College of Engineering supported this idea and provides all kind of help for the tournament. The recently concluded tournament began on December 26.
Twelve college teams including one from Sambalpur were in the contention for the trophy. HKR Mahavidyalaya won the toss and opted for fielding. Their decision to bowl first proved correct as they bundled out Government College for Physical Education
(GCPE) Sambalpur for a paltry score of 57 in 10.1 overs. Asish Mitra created havoc with his left arm spin bowling. He captured 6 wickets in 2.2 overs by giving only 11 runs. HKRM achieved the target of 58 runs in just 8 overs with nine wickets intact. HKRM has been participating in the tournament since its inception and this time, they succeeded in laying hands on the trophy. They bagged Rs.10,000 with the trophy.

Captain Asish Mitra was declared player of the finals. Bhavtosh Pramanik of Sambalpur was declared the player of the tournament for his consistent all-round performance.
In the semi-final HKRM beat Shram Shakti College of Birmitapur while GCPE overcame the challenge of Rourkela Municipal College.

In the school category, St. Arnold’s School did not have to toil hard to capture the trophy. They defeated Delhi Public School by 8 wickets. After winning the toss, St. Arnold’s invited DPS to bat. DPS could gather 124 runs in their stipulated 20 overs. They lost 7 wickets in the process. Kaustubh Maharishi was the chief contributor. He plucked 45 runs. St. Arnold’s chased the target with ease. Parth Sarthi Jena (59) and Binay Sao (37) helped their team to reach the winning target with 16 balls to spare. Parth Sarthi Jena was declared player of the final. Kaustubh Maharishi was declared the player of the tournament.

Bimal Bisi, president of Rourkela Executive  Association and F. C. Mohanty were the chief guest and guest of honour respectively on the concluding day. They distributed trophies to the winners and runners up.