That's all from this one-sided contest, folks! For now, this is Deepak Prakash signing off on behalf of scorer/analyst Ashok Dayma. CHEERS!
Azim Kazi (Ratnagiri Jets Captain and POTM): "I’ve been working hard for this. The wicket was challenging, and although we lost the toss, we backed our strengths. The pitch was likely to remain the same throughout, but the weather was on our minds.
We have plenty of match-winners in our squad, and they know when to step up. Our plan was to take the game deep, and if we had wickets in hand, we knew we could capitalise on it. If we execute our plans well, our bowlers are tough to handle."
Player of the Match: Azim Kazi
Time for the post-match presentation.......
Rushabh Rathod (Raigad Royals Captain): "It’s a tough loss to take. It was a very good toss to win, but we failed to capitalise on it. The ball was sticking on the surface, and a par score could have been around 160–165, but we ended up conceding 25–30 runs too many. We couldn’t click with the bat either. We will try to work on it and come back stronger in the next game."
1:29 PM IST, Local Time: The defending champs are back in business! After a three-match losing streak, they've bounced back with two wins on the trot in the ongoing event. They drub Raigad Royals by 67 runs.
Earlier, after being invited to bat first, Ratnagiri Jets got off to a solid start as their openers, Atharva Dharmadhikari and Dhiraj Phatangare, scored briskly from the outset. The opening duo added 60 runs for the first wicket, with Dharmadhikari departing for 23 runs. The spinners kept things tight in the middle phase and didn’t allow the batters to score rapidly. Phatangare notched up his fifty but failed to bat till the end and departed for 57 runs off 43 balls. Skipper Azim Kazi came out all guns blazing, scoring at a brisk pace. The left-hander notched up his fifty and went on to play a scintillating knock of 72 runs off just 38 balls before retiring himself out in the final over of the innings due to the scorching heat in the middle. Kiran Chormale chipped in with an unbeaten 12 off 9 balls, helping propel the Ratnagiri Jets to 187/4 in 20 overs. Tanay Sanghvi, Siddhesh Veer, and Hitesh Walunj bagged one wicket each for Raigad Royals. In reply, Raigad Royals got off to a horrible start in pursuit of a hefty 187 runs as Pradeep Dadhe removed both openers inside the powerplay. The Royals' batters failed to stitch a partnership in the middle and kept losing wickets at regular intervals, as they were reeling at 37/5 in the 8th over. Raigad Royals continued to lose wickets at regular intervals and failed to make a significant partnership in the middle. Ratnagiri Jets delivered a scintillating bowling performance and restricted the Royals to 120/9 in 20 overs. Satyajeet Bachhav shone with the ball for the Jets, claiming 3 wickets, while Pradeep Dadhe, Kiran Chormale, and Prathamesh Pundlik Gawade contributed a couple of wickets each to the downfall.
Stay tuned for the presentation.....
19.6 P Gawade to V Ostwal
0 Full and sliding on the pads. Ostwal moves his front leg across a tad and whips at it, but misses onto the pads. Ratnagiri Jets win by 67 runs.
19.5 P Gawade to N Kadam
1 Back of a length angled into the batter. Kadam chips it towards mid-off for a single.