That's it from our coverage of the 24th T20 of the MPL 2025 between Ratnagiri Jets and Puneri Bappa. Puneri Bappa have won the game and qualified for the play-off. They are the second team after Eagle Nashik Titans to book a spot in the top four.
For now, this is Saptak Sanyal signing off on behalf of the scorer/analyst of this game Asraj Khan.
Yash Nahar (Player of the Match):"No the death overs were not close. The boundaries were small and we had the firepower. I knew that one side of the ground is smaller and when we connect, it would've gone to the fence.
I was happy when Puneri Bappa selected me. It feels great to qualify to the play-off."
Player of the Match: Yash Nahar
Yash Kshirsagar (Puneri Bappa Captain):"Of course, we yesterday got no game but as I mentioned in the toss, when we get some game time, we try to take two points.
No there was no stress at the dug-out. We took the stress in the last game but when Shinde and Ramu (Ramakrishna Ghosh) were batting, we knew things will go well. I want to mention Nikit Dhumal's run-out specially. That shifted the momentum."
Azim Kazi receives the orange cap as he is the leading run getter of the tournament now.
Azim Kazi (Ratnagiri Jets Captain):"I think we were 20-25 runs short. We got momentum but we gave the wickets away and that costed us big time. I think it was a good condition to bat. The groundsmen have done a fantastic job to prepare the ground.
Satyajeet has always been a match winner for us. He has stepped up with the ball whenever we needed him. I am happy with the way we bowled. In the truncated games, a few overs always go big but they have done well."
6:21 PM IST | Puneri Bappa have defeated Ratnagiri Jets by 5 wickets and with just a ball to spare in the rain-truncated game and have booked a berth in the qualifier. Ratnagiri Jets lost their opener Dhiraj Phatangare for a 6-ball duck. Then Atharva Dharmadhikari and Kiran Chormale batted well to post a 50-run partnership for the second wicket. Dharmadhikati got out off Sohan Jamale and in the next over Nikit Dhumal did a brilliant work to run Chormale out for 37. Jets lost Azim Kazi for 8 and they were down to 71/4. Divyang Hinganekar and Abhishek Pawar stitched a 44-run partnership for the 5th wicket. Hinganekar top scored for his 43 off 33 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes. A 20-run knock from Pawar and 13 from Nikhil Naik took the score to 154. In the last 5 overs, Jets scored only 39 and lost 5 wickets which costed them big time. Sachin Bhosale took 3 wickets in the final over of the innings and finished with 4/38. Ramakrishna Ghosh, Sohan Jamale, Nikit Dhumal and Roshan Waghsare took a wicket each.
The rain came and halted the game for 20 minutes and due to that, the revised DLS target was 132 for them in 16 overs. Yash Nahar was sent in as an impact sub and he started hitting the ball hard right from the word go. Due to his batting, Bappa added 30 from the first 3 overs. They lost Murtuza Trunkwala cheaply but the consistent boundaries from Nahar and Rushikesh Sonavne kept the Puneri Bappa in the game. Sonavne got out for 20 off 13 balls and after his dismissal, Yash Kshirsagar took the charge.
Yash Nahar and Yash Kshirsagar were spot-on with their approach. They made a partnership and rotated the strike beautifully. Their 46-run partnership changed the momentum. Kshirsagar's 31-run knock off 18 balls was decorated with 3 fours and a maximum. Yash Nahar was the star of the show scoring 59 off 43 balls with 3 fours and 4 maximums. After Nahar's dismissal, the lower order propelled Puneri Bappa to a victory.