What a thriller! Late bursts by Sairaj (46) and Nande (50*) helps North Mumbai Panthers win in the T20 Mumbai’19

North Mumbai Panthers after being made to bat first at Wankhede were off to a decent start with Shaw (22) and Vikrant Auti (22) putting up 31 odd runs in the first 3 overs but after 10 overs the scoreboard was stuck at a modest 78/3 in 10 overs.

In came power-hitter Sairaj to change the game in a matter of few overs as he plonked bowlers for 4 biggies en-route his quick 18 ball 46. Karan Nandey who came at no.7 continued the positive momentum left behind by Sairaj as he went on to score a blazing 50 off 23 balls. Karan who has toiled hard at the local level with some outstanding performances in Times Shield, Kanga, Thane Vaibhav, Young Comrade and many more tournaments over the years finally grasps the opportunity with both the hands as he gained lot of fans today for his aggressive batting under pressure taking North Mumbai Panthers to 190/8 in 20 overs. Ankush Jaiswal was excellent with the ball conceeding mere 23 runs in 4 overs with a wicket while Sagar Mishra who affected Shaw’s run out was also impressive with the ball taking 1/25 in 4 overs. Both the bowlers won hearts when other bowlers were getting thrashed at almost 10 runs per over.

Chasing 191 on Wankhede is never easy but the experienced Aditya Tare & opener Kaushik Chikhlikar put on 87 runs for the 2^nd wicket which brought them back into the game. Kaushik scored a solid 56 (41 balls) while Aditya Tare scored a brilliant 71 in 44 balls (10 fours) where he was looking dangerous to finish off the game. However, Sarfaraz Khan (13 off 7) lost his wicket on a rash shot or they could have easily crossed the victory line. The match eventually boiled down to the last over with 7 runs required off the last ball where North Mumbai Panthers emerged victorious as they won the match by 6 runs. Left arm pacer Atif Attarwala was brilliant with the ball taking big wickets at crucial intervals coming up with 3/37 in 4 overs.

• Brief Scores-
• North Mumbai Panthers-190/8 in 20 overs, Karan Nande 50, Sairaj Patil 46, Ankush Jaiwal 1/23, Sagar Mishra 1/25
• Eagle Thane Strikers-184/5 in 20 overs, Aditya Tare 71, Kaushik C 56, Atif Attarwala 3/37
• Result- North Mumbai Panthers won by 6 wkts