ONGC - ONGC Wins PSPB Veterans Cricket Trophy
The victorious veterans' team The spirited Team ONGC won the 19th edition of PSPB Veterans Cricket Tournament beating HPCL in the final. The tournament was hosted by Oil India Ltd. at historical Polo ground, Shillong from 12th to 19th February 2014. Showing true ONGCian spirit of hard work, dedication and commitment, veteran Cricket players of ONGC proved once again their ability to defeat the opponents when it came to tough competition. They proved that when the basics are strong, the target is never too far. Batting first on a damp wicket, ONGC put up 114 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in 20 overs. Man of the match Amrinder Singh top scored with 42 runs while Pradeep Rane and Usman Shaikh of HPCL took 3 wickets each.
Despite needing six runs per over, HPCL struggled from the beginning due to some superb opening spells by Ajay Parihar and Narendra Maykar who took 2 wickets each and later by Tilak Raj who claimed 2 wickets to restrict HPCL to 104 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. In the earlier semi-final round match ONGC defeated host Oil India Ltd with some brilliant performances by Rajesh Bawa who scored half century and Tilak Raj who bagged 3 valuable wickets. During prize distribution ceremony ONGC Team members also bid farewell to Mr. Bharat Shukla, who will be superannuating this year and presented him a souvenir.
For the past few years the PSPB Veteran Cricket has also been recognized in the sporting circle of Oil PSU for its tough competition and the winner team contributes to the point tally which helps a company get credits for Minister's Trophy and Secretary Trophy. An evening of cultural delights was held on the evening before the last day at a city hotel with players from all the participating teams being treated to local Khasi and Garo folk dances. The PSPB tournament was covered extensively in Shillong edition of National and local newspapers with ONGC's name splashed boldly on sports pages.