Despite being hampered by a rainy day, the T20 Mumbai lightened up itself in the night as we witnessed a sterling performance from a 16-year old boy whose heroic deeds led the North Mumbai Panthers team to their first win in the tournament. The first match of the day was a one-sided encounter where SoBo Supersonics flattened the Namo Bandra Blasters.
The biggest surprise of the day was offered by the weather gods as Mumbai relished its first ever rain in the month of March. The shower delayed the day-match and resulted in a reduction in overs too. SoBo Supersonics came out to bat first on the damp pitch in the 18-overs match.
The conditions demanded a cautious start from the batsmen which is unusual in T20s. The Supersonics batsmen adapted well and played with purpose. They never lost wickets in a cluster and then rallied around Prasad Pawar who batted like he was batting on a different strip altogether.
Nice catching up with old buddies @ImZaheer, Sameer Dighe and Salil Ankola. #T20Mumbai pic.twitter.com/VWZrpqOjNn
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) March 15, 2018
Prasad Pawar’s marvelous innings of 83(53) studded with six boundaries and three sixes launched the Supersonics to 149/6, an incredible score in challenging circumstances. Namo Bandra Blasters’ innings demonstrated the demons hiding in the pitch.
Every Blasters batsman except Shreyas Iyer slipped on the damp pitch. The fall of wickets best describes the story – 1/1, 13/2, 15/3, 21/4, 34/5, 37/6. Captain Iyer scored a breezy 25(19), rest just caved in. The Bandra Blasters conceded the match by a whopping 50 runs margin.
The trend of low-scores continued in the night match as well. The batsmen had to weary of the pitch, and it was the case of who blinks first. Shivaji Park Lions batted first and faced the heat from North Mumbai Panthers who exploited the 22-yard strip to perfection.
The Lions never got going and fell away once Siddhant Akre was stumped on the bowling of Saeed Shaikh, Akre top-scored with 39 runs off 32 balls. Few lusty blows at the end from Raunaq Sharma and Shams Mulani escorted Lions to a safe hill of 135 runs.
The control remained in the hands of the king of the jungle as Lions eked out three Panther wickets in the powerplay with only 28 runs on the board. The occasion demanded a special innings and it was duly delivered by a hitherto unknown entity.
Teenager,thinYashaswi Jaiswal shaped the Panthers'victory with ball &bat as well. 👏👏👏 Well played ! Liked to watch it.Enjoyed.@T20Mumbai #T20MumbaiLeague #AmhiMumbaikar #AmhiCricketkar
— Sampada Deshpande (@sampada2346) March 15, 2018
The 16-year old Yashasvi Jaiswal batted with immense maturity and control as he impressed everyone with an innings of 69 runs in just 43 balls. The Lions tried to claw their way back in the match once Jaiswal perished but the six from Yogesh Pawar handed Panthers their maiden win with two balls remaining.
Both the losing teams from yesterday will be back in the action today in another double-header day. The Triumphant Knights and struggling ARCS Andheri will up against them.
Today’s Fixtures:
3:30 PM IST Triumph Knights Mumbai North East vs NaMo Bandra Blasters
7:30 PM IST Shivaji Park Lions vs ARCS Andheri
