National English High School (Virar) openers Omkar Naik and Ayush Valam were in terrific form, leading their team to a massive 288-run win over IES Secondary School (Mulund) in a first-round match of the Dream Sports Mumbai School Sports Association (MSSA) Harris Shield inter-school cricket tournament at the Karnataka Sports Ground on Monday.
Electing to bat, Omkar and Ayush laid a solid foundation for an enormous team total. Omkar, who was in sublime touch, smashed his maiden century, scoring an impressive 148 off 135 balls. His innings was studded with 15 fours and two cleanly struck sixes. Giving him company, Ayush, was equally impressive and kept the scoreboard moving with confidence and authority. The right-hander played some delightful shots on both sides of the wicket while compiling a fluent 116 off 118 balls, which included seven boundaries and two sixes. Their remarkable 264-run opening partnership put IES Mulund on the back foot and ensured that National English were always in control of the proceedings.
National English finished at 327-3 in the allotted 45 overs. Thereafter, their bowlers did the needful. Medium pacer Ashish Khedekar led the attack with a fiery spell. He bowled five incisive overs, including two maidens and claimed 3-13. Supporting him from the other end was Arnav Padvi, who maintained an accurate line and picked 2-3 to bowl as the opposition was bowled out for just 39 runs in 18.4 overs.