Rounak Waghela's all-round show guides Ravi Brothers to semis of Laxman Dass Memorial Cricket

A star-studded Ravi Brothers out-batted Delhi Challengers Cricket Club in the quarterfinal to qualify for the semifinals of the 40th All India Laxman Dass Memorial Cricket Tournament being played at the St Stephen's Ground.

Ravi Brothers managed to amass 366/8 in 40 overs thanks to vital contributions from Ankit Kumar (96 off 67 balls, 11x4s, 4x6s), skipper Ayush Doseja (72 off 42 balls, 7x4s, 3x6s), Pranav Pant (35 off 24 balls), Shivansh Sharma (44 off 32 balls) and Rounak Waghela (58 off 35 balls, 3x4s, 4x6s).

"When I went into bat, things were good, just wanted to carry the momentum. Kept playing and shots kept coming," said Waghela after the match.

The 17-year-old, one of the emerging talents in the Capital, has had a bit of underwhelming season with the bat in the BCCI tournaments.

However, he is just beginning to pick form after giving extra time to batting at the nets. "I couldn't do much with the bat but was good with the ball. The season [for the state team] wasn't that good. I am giving myself more time with the bat, backing my shots and learning new ones," said Waghela who recently gave Class 12 boards.

The young all-rounder, who bats left-handed and bowls left-arm spin, took his exams immediately after returning from the cricket season.

"Whatever preparations I could do in the little time I had, I did before appearing for the exams," said Waghela.

Currently, he is working on the inside-out and sweep shots.

The target was big and it was the right time for bowlers to attack.

"We were attacking with the ball, since the target was high," said Waghela, who took 3/60.

Pace bowler Himanshu Chauhan picked two early wickets to reduce Delhi Challengers to 16/2.

Kunal Singh (97 off 56 balls, 12x4s, 5x6s), helped by Karan Sharma (46 off 27 balls) and Kritagya Singh (42 off 41 balls) brought the team in contention. But after Kunal's dismissal, the team lost track. Captain and wicketkeeper Kaif Ahmed (68 off 52 balls, 5x4s, 5x6s) chipped in with a half-century but it was too little, too late as there was not much support in the latter part of the innings.

The Delhi Challengers innings folded for 276 in 34 overs.

Tags : Rounak Waghela, Ayush Doseja, Ankit Kumar, Pranav Pant, Laxman Dass Memorial Cricket