SoBo Mumbai Falcons finished its batting essay on a high. The bowling unit then stretched the match right till the end. Still, the Falcons unfortunately had to settle with the runners-up trophy, with MSC Maratha Royals winning the T20 Mumbai league’s final with four balls and six wickets to spare at the Wankhede Stadium.
After being asked to bat first, thanks to Mayuresh Tandel and Harsh Aghav’s scintillating unbroken partnership of 85 runs off 49 balls, SoBo Mumbai Falcons put on a respectable total of 157 for four. Chinmay Sutar and Awais Khan rode their luck to steer the Royals home.
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After being inserted into bat, Falcons had to bat first. The team got off to a sombre start, placed at 60 for three at the halfway stage. Captain Shreyas Iyer’s reverse sweep in the 12th over proved costly, as Irfan caught him.
In came Harsh Aghav (45, 28b, 1×4, 4×6) – the find of the tournament – and changed the complexion of the match along with Mayuresh Tandel (50, 32b, 3×4, 3×6).
While the unbroken partnership was of 85 runs off 49 balls, Aghav – who was later adjudged as the Emerging Player of the Tournament – and Tandel plundered 53 runs off the last five overs.
With seven runs required from six balls, veteran all-rounder Rohan Raje finished the game off.
Brief scores
SoBo Mumbai Falcons 157/4, 20 overs (Mayuresh Tandel 50, Harsh Aghav 45; Vaibhav Mali 2/32) lost to MSC Maratha Royals 158 /5, 19.2 overs (Chinmay Sutar 53, Awais Khan 38) by six wickets.
The Sportz Planet Desk
