Akash Parkar’s 68 guides City Riders to a thumping win over Bandra Heroes in the inaugural match of Mitsui Shoji T20
Venue: Mumbai Police Gymkhana Cricket Ground Mumbai | Match Scorecard | Tournament Details
Just when City Riders were down and out, Akash Parkar emerged as their savior smashing an unbeaten 40 ball 68 consisting of 7 fours and 4 massive sixes to guide his team to a confidence boosting 6 wicket win over Bandra Heroes. Bandra bowlers started well in their defense but Akash’s innings was just too good to end on the losing side.
Bandra Heroes won the toss on a hard surface and decided to bat first. Opener Omkar Gaurav went back without making much of an impact scoring just 3 runs. Harsh and Yash switched a partnership of 40 runs in the next 5 overs and brought the innings back on track when Harsh was caught off the bowling of Prashant Auti. He was the highest scorer of Bandra’s innings with 35. Bandra kept losing wickets on regular intervals that prevented them from setting up a challenging total on an easy surface. They were further dented by consecutive strikes from A Dhumal. Due to some late boost by Amit and Dhumil, Bandra were able to make a respectable 133 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. Akash, Aditya and Vinayak from City riders managed a couple of wickets each.
Due to the hard surface and modest total, City Riders were the favorites after the first innings. But like their opponents, they were also off to a bad start with three wickets falling in quick succession and scoreboard reading just 38 in the 6th over. But the fall of the third wicket proved to be a blessing in disguise as in walked AkashParkar to join VinayakBhoir and the mayhem began for Bandra Heroes. Both were together for next 8 overs and added 57 runs taking the game out of the reach of Bandra Heroes. Vinayak was unfortunately run out on a personal score of 28. But Akash ensured no further hiccups and finished the game in next 3 overs by launching an attack on Bandra bowlers. Bandra’s M Amir provided his team a perfect start scalping 2 wickets in the beginning but the score was too less to pose any challenge to City Riders.
Akash Parkar was adjudged the man of the match for his superb knock.
Brief Score:
Bandra Heroes: 133/8 in 20 overs (Harsh 35, Shikhar 29, Vinayak 2/13, Aaditya 2/19)
City Riders: 138/4 in 16.3 overs (Aakash 68*, Vinayak 28, M Amir 2/13)
Report By:
Sumanyu Jain
Regional Manager & Editor|www.cricketgraph.com