Akhil Herwadkar’s solid 56 alongwith brilliant cameos by Gaurav & Azhar guides Arcs Andheri to a win in the T20 Mumbai’19

Namo Bandra Blasters batting first at Wankhede were off to a dismal opening start with Kerkar and Iyer getting out early. However, a strong middle order consisting of Prasad Pawar (47), Nikhil Patil (55*) and Sujit Nayak (52) ensured NAMO Bandra Blasters reached a competitive total of 176/3 in 20 overs. Prasad and Nikhil stitched a crucial stand of 75 runs while Nikhil and Sujit put on a quick 83* runs to steady the ship. It was a paisa vasool entertainment provided by Sujit Nayak as the big man smacked some monstruous sixes en-route his 21 ball 52* (1 four, 5 sixes) which happens to be fastest so far in this edition.

What’s more Sujit also broke the glass of the prized Skoda Car on display which he had adored before entering the crease!

Chasing 177, the due of the wicket had surely changed making it a bit difficult to connect the ball. Opener Akhil Herwadkar kept on playing wise cricket taking ones and twos anchoring the innings at a time when a few wickets were lost in between. The way he was playing, he was looking all set to bat till the end, however he got out on a very solid 46 ball 56 (3 fours, 2 sixes). At one stage, he and Shubham (39 off 24) stitched a crucial 71 run stand soaking the pressure by ticking the scoreboard.

Now the onus was on middle order bats Gaurav Jathar and Azhar Ansari where they put on a match winning 54* run stand in the last 28 balls to help their team emerge victorious. Gaurav (27* off 19) was taking ones and twos very smartly while Azhar Ansari (24* off 11) went all guns blazing trying to hit every ball for a boundary.

In what became a last over thriller, Gaurav who was initially finding it difficult to connect smashed the last two balls for boundaries resulting in a brilliant win for Arcs Andheri.

Man of the match Akhil Herwadkar speaking with Cricketgraph said “it was all self believe and god’s grace” when asked how he felt about his crucial half century.

Gaurav Jathar who was feeling a lot of pressure who finally smashed the winning runs shared with Cricketgraph “ The pressure was obviously there, the wicket had become two paced and it wasn’t easy to connect but we had to do it somehow”

• Brief Scores-
• NAMO Bandra Blasters-176/3 in 20 overs, Nikhil Patil 55*, Sujit Nayak 52*, Prasad Pawar 47, Tushar Deshpande 2/36,  Azhar Ansari 1/20
• Arcs Andheri-180/5 in 20 overs, Akhil Herwadkar 56, Shubham Ranjane 39, Gaurav Jathar 27*, Azhar Ansari 24*, Sujit Nayak 2/19, Saksham Jha 1/22
• Result- Arcs Andheri won the match by 5 wkts