Samarth Seth hits ton for Collage, Yugal Saini, Saksham Gehlot guide Mount to win

On a day when India Head Coach Gautam Gambhir's entry at the St Stephen's College Ground created a buzz, batsmen Samarth Seth and Yugal Saini found enough inspiration to score key runs on the opening day of the 50th Goswami Ganesh Dutt Cricket Tournament that is being played in 20 over format with white ball and coloured clothing.

While Seth hammered 120 runs of 67 balls (14x4s, 4x6s), he ended up being on the losing side as his team Collage Sports went down to Haryana Cricket Academy (HCA) by five wickets. However, Saini's unbeaten 55 off 36 (4x4s, 2x6s) on a sticky wicket scripted Mount Cricket Club's 27-run win. Saksham Gehlot, with 3/21, was the other star for Mount on the day.

Seth's 120 was the reason behind Collage getting 211/6 in their 20 overs.

Collage had HCA on the mat at 55/4 and then at 130/5 but then Ashwini (79 not out off 39, 6x4s, 5x6s) and Jasmeet (47 off 19) guided the team to win.

"Gautam Gambhir had come today and obviously, he is the head coach so we were all inspired by his presence. GG Dutt is a big tournament and I scored 120 not out against HCA which is a very good side. I was happy with my performance but the team couldn't win. If it had won, I would have been doubly happy," said Seth after the match.

"I really enjoyed playing at Stephen's because the pitch is always very nice there. My season has gone well. I have scored almost 600 runs in eight matches in DDCA league Premier division. I am looking forward to the upcoming season, trying very hard and practicing very hard and training well. Overall the season has gone well. The batting today was very good too. Wickets kept falling around me, but if we had won the match, the feeling would have been better."

In the first match of the day, Mount were ensured a victory by Gehlot's 3/21 and Kartik's 3/33 as Friends were bowled out for 140 in 18.5 overs. Mount had made 167/6 batting first with Saini making great impact.

"The pitch was a bit sticky, so I had to apply myself on the pitch," said Saini, who has been among runs this season.

Gehlot, a spinner, said, "I kept things simple. I pulled the length a bit and managed outside edge on a wicket which inspired me."

The tournament is part of Delhi cricket's Hot Weather circuit.  

Tags : Gautam Gambhir, Samarth Seth, Saksham Gehlot, GG Dutt, Delhi Cricket, St Stephen's College