Lawyers win the Duane Morris & Selvam Capital Markets Cup
Sunil Arora, Executive Director, Bal Asha Trust and Jamie Benson, Head of the India Practice and U.S. Securities Law Practice, Duane Morris & Selvam LLP.
On Saturday, 21 January 2017 at the Mumbai Cricket Association ground at BKC in Mumbai, India, the lawyers defeated the bankers in a cricket match to win the Duane Morris & Selvam Capital Markets Cup. With this win, the lawyers have a 4-2 lead in the annual charity cricket match.
The lawyers’ team comprised representatives from Duane Morris & Selvam, Khaitan & Co., AZB & Partners, J. Sagar & Associates, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Trilegal, Desai & Diwanji and Crawford Bayley.
The bankers’ team comprised representatives from ICICI Securities, Edelweiss Financial Services, Goldman Sachs, IDFC, IIFL, SBI Capital Markets, Nomura and Morgan Stanley.
The match raised more than Rs. 200,000 for Bal Asha Trust, which works to give quality care to children abandoned around Mumbai every year. Khaitan & Co. donated Rs. 75,000, Duane Morris & Selvam donated Rs. 68,000 and numerous players also donated to this very worthy cause.
The match was the initiative of Jamie Benson of Duane Morris & Selvam LLP, an international law firm. Benson is based in Singapore and is head of the firm’s India Practice and U.S. Securities Law Practice. Commenting on the match, Benson, captain of the lawyers’ team, said: “It was a very enjoyable match this year, with each team looking the favourite to win at different stages of the match. To play on the MCA ground, which is a first-class ground, was a real treat. Although I am happy the lawyers won the match, the main thing was bringing lawyers and bankers together for a fun time to raise money for a very good cause. I am already looking forward to next year’s match.”
Lawyers’ team: Nikhil Naredi, Lionel Almeida, Swapneil Akut, Laban Das, Vijay Parthasarthi, Sohrab Khushrushahi, Nikhilesh Panchal, Pranav Arora, Siddhartha Desai, Sanjay Israni, Rabindra Jhunjhunwala and Jamie Benson.
Bankers’ team: Shubham Mehta, Gyayak Jain, Rohit Chaudhary, Ankit Jajodia, Narendra Rathi, Gaurav Singhvi, Javeed Siddiqui, Ajay Saraf, Soumya Guha, Dilipkumar Dube and Ronak Shah.
Match Report
The lawyers batted first and got off to a blistering start, with Nikhil Naredi (Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas) hitting the ball to all parts of the ground, while the more watchful and always elegant Sohrab Khushrushahi (Trilegal) was content to push the ball into the gaps and rotate the strike. The lawyers lost their first wicket in the sixth over and the score on 52 when Naredi went for one big hit too many and was out for 32 off only 19 balls. He was well caught by Sanjay Israni (Desai Diwanji), filling in for an injured banker, off the bowling of Shubham Mehta (Edelweiss).
If the bankers thought the wicket would bring them any respite, they were sadly mistaken. The next batsman in was Vijay Parthasarthi (Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas), who had only been dismissed once in his previous four games in the series. Parthasarthi and Khushrushahi combined brilliantly, running hard between the wickets to put pressure on the bankers in the field and turning 2s into 3s.
At drinks, the lawyers were 1-135 off 15 overs and a huge score looked on the cards. Javeed Siddiqui (ICICI Securities), the bankers’ captain, rallied his players at the drinks break and the last 15 overs of the lawyers’ innings proved to be much better for the bankers.
Khushrushahi retired on 50 off 42 balls. He is yet to be dismissed in the series, having also retired in his first match last year. His retirement brought the experienced Rabindra Jhunjhunwala (Khaitan & Co.) to the crease. Parthasarthi retired on 50 off 37 balls, keeping his record of only being dismissed once and pushing his average in the series to over 200!
From 1-180 off 21 overs, the lawyers’ batting fell away in the face of the some good bowling by the bankers. Mehta, Gaurav Singhvi (IIFL) and Soumya Guha (Nomura – 4 overs for 19) found their line and length and the lawyers suddenly found the runs hard to come by. Swapneil Akut (J. Sagar & Associates) was bowled by Siddiqui for 10 off only 6 balls, with two 4s. Jhunjhunwala was out for 20 from 24 balls off the bowling of Singhvi. The last six batsman for the lawyers hit only one 4 between them and only Benson, with 13 not out off 14 balls, got into double figures. Mehta picked up a further three wickets, Singhvi another wicket and one batsman was run out.
The stirring fight back by the bankers saw the lawyers finish their 30 overs with a score of 8-213. While a good total, it was far less than the lawyers had hoped for at the drinks break. With the lightning fast outfield giving batsmen full value for their shots, the match looked evenly poised at the lunch break.
Siddiqui and Ankit Jajodia (Goldman Sachs) opened the batting for the bankers and got their team off to a flying start off the bowling of Parthasarthi and Siddhartha Desai (J. Sagar & Associates). Siddiqui in particular was punishing the bowling and hit two huge 6s, which turned out to be the only 6s of the match. After six overs, the bankers were 0-54 and were well on track to reach the lawyers’ total. Benson, the lawyers’ captain, brought himself on and with his fifth ball bowled Siddiqui for 37 off only 17 balls. Ajay Saraf (ICICI Securities) was next in and he continued to push the run rate along with some elegant strokes.
Jhunjhunwala’s second over was proving to be very expensive, with 15 runs coming off the first four balls, but he redeemed himself when Jajodia hit the fifth ball of the over high towards mid-on where Akut took a good catch to dismiss him for 14 off 26 balls. Dilipkumar Dube (JM Financial) was next in, but his stay proved to be very brief when Benson bowled him first ball. Naredi came on and immediately found his line and length with his off spin, tying down one end. Some good batting by Guha and Saraf pushed the bankers score to 3-115 off 14 overs. At this stage, the bankers were probably slight favourites. However, a change of bowling again brought a wicket, with Sanjay Israni’s (Desai Diwanji) first ball bowling Saraf for a well compiled 23 off only 18 balls. Drinks were then taken.
After drinks, Israni struck for the second time in the over when Guha charged down the pitch, missed a wide delivery and was stumped by Laban Das (Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas), who had a great game with the gloves. Guha scored 32 off 24 balls. Israni’s first over proved to be a major turning point in the match, with his two wickets bringing the score to 5-123 after 15 overs. At the halfway point of their innings, the bankers were well ahead of the run rate required, but it was wickets lost that would prove to be crucial.
Naredi’s tight bowling was rewarded when a quicker ball clipped Narendra Rathi’s (Morgan Stanley) off stump. With Rathi’s dismissal for 7, the bankers were 6-130 and the lawyers were now the favourites. Akut’s first ball of the match was cut by Rohit Chaudhary (IDFC) to point where Jhunjhunwala took a good catch to dismiss him for 5. Mehta, who was hampered by cramps, batted on gamely to the end, but he was running out of partners. Gyayak Jain (Edelweiss) fell in the next over LBW to Israni for a duck. Ronak Shah (SBI Capital Markets) was run out for 7 after Jhunjhunwala swopped down on a ball that looked as though would get passed him and threw it to Lionel Almeida (AZB & Partners) to take off the bails. Singhvi was the last batsman to fall, caught behind by Das off the bowling of Parthasarthi for 7. Mehta was left stranded on 23 not out, with the bankers all out for 173 in the 27th over.
Nikhil Naredi was awarded the man of the match for his 32 off only 17 balls and his 5 overs, 1-15.
Scorecard: Lawyers 8-213 off 30 overs (Sohrab Khushrushahi (Trilegal) 50 retired, Vijay Parthasarthi (Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas) 50 retired, Nikhil Naredi (Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas) 32, Rabindra Jhunjhunwala (Khaitan & Co.) 20 and Jamie Benson (Duane Morris & Selvam) 13 not out; Shubham Mehta (Edelweiss) 6 overs, 4-29, Gaurav Singhvi (IIFL) 6 overs, 2-37, and Javeed Siddiqui (ICICI Securities) 2 overs, 1-23) beat Bankers 10-172 off 27.3 overs (Siddiqui 37, Soumya Guha (Nomura) 32, Mehta 23 not out, Ajay Saraf (ICICI Securities) 23, Ankit Jajodia (Goldman Sachs) 14; Sanjay Israni (Desai Diwanji) 4 overs 3-25, Benson 4 overs, 2-22, Naredi 5 overs, 1-15, Swapneil Akut (J. Sagar & Associates) 1 over, 1-7, Parthasarthi 3.3 overs, 1-29 and Jhunjhunwala 3 overs, 1-36).
For more details on the match, please contact Jamie Benson.
About Duane Morris & Selvam LLP
Duane Morris & Selvam LLP is the joint law venture consisting of international law firm Duane Morris LLP and Singapore-based Selvam LLC, with headquarters in Singapore. It serves clients throughout Asia, as well as companies based in the Americas and Europe that are conducting business in Asia and Asian entities and individuals doing business in the Americas and the United Kingdom. Duane Morris LLP, a global law firm with more than 750 attorneys in 27 offices across the United States and around the world, is asked by a broad array of clients to provide innovative solutions to today's legal and business challenges. Throughout its more than 100-year history, Duane Morris has fostered a collegial culture, where lawyers work with each other to best serve their clients.
About Jamie Benson
Jamie Benson is a U.S. corporate and securities lawyer with more than 20 years' experience in international capital markets and cross-border M&A transactions. He has worked in New York, Sydney and London, and is now based in Singapore. Mr. Benson is the head of Duane Morris & Selvam's U.S. securities law practice and head of the firm's India practice desk. He has advised on more than 100 equity and debt offerings throughout the world with total proceeds of approximately US$20 billion.