The thrills of T20 continued at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai as the day two of the T20 League produced riveting action in the two matches played yesterday on 12th March. NaMo Bandra Blasters and SoBo Supersonics emerged as the winning teams in the high-scoring affairs.
In the afternoon game, NaMo Bandra Blasters batted first against Shivaji Park Lions. The Blasters got off to a steady start with the openers being cautious in the powerplay overs. The 23-year old Captain Shreyas Iyer batting one-down raised the run-scoring tempo, scoring 51(33) in the process.
NaMo Blasters were eyeing a total around 160-170 with the score being 104/3 with the last six overs remaining. All those projections went out of the window as Aman Hakim Khan and Eknath Kerkar struck a destructive chord.
The young duo combined to add 67 runs in the next 31 balls and managed to catapult the score beyond 180. The 21-year old Aman Hakim Khan remained unbeaten as he bludgeoned 28-ball 62 runs filled with four fours and five sixes.
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Chasing this total of 183 proved beyond the capacity of Shivaji Park Lions. Their middle order crumbled and found themselves struggling at 33/3 by the end of powerplay overs. A late surge from Swapnil Salvi and Hardik Tamore ignited hopes but they lacked the firepower and fell short by 12 runs. Pratik Bhoir was the pick of the bowlers for Blasters with his bowling figures of 3/28.
The second game of the day witnessed a stunning chase from SoBo Supersonics who registered their first win in the tournament in a heroic fashion. Jay Bista, who scored 52(33) in a losing cause on the previous day, this time improved on his effort and his 60(39) was enough to make Supersonics favorite in the chase.
Supersonics needed 50 runs in 34 balls when Bista left the scene. Prashant Naik 35(19) and Gaurav Jathar 20(9) then launched an attack that took Supersonics past the target with four balls remaining.
Earlier in the match, North Mumbai Panthers riding on the heroics of Salman Ahmed 74(52) and Sairaj Patil 54(26) raised a mammoth total of 192/4. Their opener and Captain Ajinkya Rahane could only score 18 runs from 15 balls.
The second day at the T20 Mumbai belonged to the young brigade whose fearless batting outdid the experience of Mumbai stalwarts. The third day promises to be another action-packed day.
13th March fixtures:
3:30 PM Shivaji Park Lions vs Triumph Knights Mumbai North East
7:30 PM ARCS Andheri vs NaMo Bandra Blasters
