Thatās all from this contest, folks! This is Deepak Prakash signing off on behalf of scorer and analyst Paras Yadav. Cheers!
Sairaj Patil (Player of the Match): "First of all, Iād like to thank the Mumbai Cricket Association for launching this league ā I had been eagerly waiting for it. I chose bowlers to attack and played with calculated risks. But now, itās important to start from scratch in the next game."
Player of the Match: Sairaj Patil
Atharva Ankolekar (Eagle Thane Strikers Captain): "Our strategy was to take the game deep, and we were confident that weād come out on top. We trusted Sairaj Patilās hitting ability, and he delivered. Now, itās important for us to recover well and be ready to give our best in tomorrowās game."
Suryakumar Yadav (Triumph Knights Mumbai North East Captain): "I was expecting these players to perform, and I'm glad that even the players in my team stepped up and took responsibility. In T20 cricket, you need contributions from at least two or three players to win a game ā thatās why itās called a team sport."
Time for the post-match presentation.....
9:40 PM IST, Local Time: Eagle Thane Strikers defeat Suryakumar Yadav's Triumph Knights, Mumbai North East by 5 wickets and kickstart their campaign on a high.
Earlier, after being invited to bat first, Triumph Knights MNE lost Siddhant Aadhhathrao for a mere 4 runs in the form of a run-out. However, Jigar Surendra Rana and Parikshit Valsangkar steadied the innings with a brisk 88-run partnership for the second wicket. Valsangkar chipped in with a handy 29, while Rana anchored the innings with a 53-run knock off 42 deliveries. Jay Sanjay Jain chipped in with a handy 24-run cameo, while skipper Suryakumar Yadav came out all guns blazing, smashing an unbeaten 50 off just 27 deliveries to propel Triumph Knights Mumbai North East to a total close to 180 in their 20 overs. Harsh Tanna, Amit Pandey, and Shashank Attarde claimed one wicket each for Eagle Thane Strikers. In reply, Eagle Thane Strikers lost Aaryaraj Sanjay Nikam for just 2 runs, but Varun Lavande and Anish Mukund Chaudhery added over 70 runs for the second wicket and put things back on track. Lavande departed for a well-made 57 runs, while Anish contributed 37 runs.
The Strikers lost a couple of wickets in quick succession, and the runs dried up in the latter part of the innings, with the required run rate climbing to over 11 runs per over. However, Sairaj Patil delivered an unbeaten 47-run knock and helped Eagle Thane Strikers cross the line with 4 balls to spare.
Minad Manjrekar bagged a couple of wickets for the Triumph Knights Mumbai North East, while Akash Suryakant Pawar, Bharat Patil, and Parikshit Valsangkar chipped in with one wicket each.