A pleasant day with a lovely cricket match! The spring breeze was enjoyed by the audience at its fullest as the Xavier’s University Sports Society (XUSS) of St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata (SXUK) organised a friendly cricket match between its Teaching Staff and Support Staff on February 23, 2024 at the university playground.

The cricket match was held in the fond memories of Fr. P C Matthew, S.J., former Principal of St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata.

The opening ceremony took place at 2:00 pm with a prayer in the presence of Prof. Ashis Mitra, Registrar of SXUK; Fr. Dr. Mourlin K, S.J., Hostel Director; Fr. Alphonse, S.J, Campus Minister; Fr. Jospeh Raj, S.J. Finance Officer, Dr. I K Moitra, Controller of Examinations, all players and the audience.

The team of Teaching Staff (ST) won the toss and decided to bat first. They scored 167 runs in 15 overs with a loss of 8 wickets. It was indeed a good score. The team of Support Staff (SS) chased the runs, scored 168 runs in 13.2 overs and bagged the victory. They made it in 6 wickets only.

Mr. Sudipto Ghosh of the Support Staff team emerged as the Man of the Match. His outstanding century in 39 balls left the audience mesmerised. He marked a record of hitting 14 over boundaries and 2 boundaries. Scoring the century, he declared to leave the ground remaining as a not-out wicket. All efforts of the pacers and spinners of the Teaching Staff team to stop Sudipto’s blustery batting went in vain.

On behalf of the team of Teaching Staff members, Mr. Sandeep Mundra scored 62 runs in 25 balls. He made four boundaries and one over-boundary. The next highest score was made by Prof. Tutun Mukherjee. His 23 runs in 17 balls including two boundaries and one over boundary were significant.

Each player of both teams was awarded a medal and the victory trophy was handed over to Mr. Sudipto Ghosh, the captain of the winners by Dr. I K Maitra. Dr. Anupam Mitra was the captain of the Teaching Staff team. Mr. Sandeep Mundra, the Sports Officer of XUSS organized the entire event.

Somak Sen