After being put into bat, Aakash Tigers Mumbai Western Suburbs got off to a good start with Kaustub Pawar scoring four boundaries in the first three overs. However, he tried one too many shots and ultimately found himself caught at mid-on with the score reading 27/1 after five.
The wicket temporarily arrested the Tigers’ scoring rate as they kept scoring at six an over until new batsman Arjun Tendulkar freed his arms and scored a huge six over mid-wicket in the eighth over. His partner Aakarshit Gomel too got into the bat, scoring nine runs off Sagar Mishra’s second over to bump the score to 69/1 after ten overs.
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Ankush Jaiswal though brought the Strikers back into the game by first dismissing the well set Tendulkar the very next over, and then picking up new man Siddharth Akre as well. Gomel tried to switch gears with a six off the next over, but he too was soon sent packing by Mishra.
The off-spinner then picked up the keeper-batsman Doraiswamy Subramanian as well to leave the Tigers reeling at 92/5 after 14. Jaiswal, who had picked up two wickets off two balls in his earlier over, was brought back into the attack and he straight away dismissed the Tigers captain Dhawal Kulkarni to claim the first ever hat-trick in T20 Mumbai.
While it looked that Tigers would end up putting a below-par score, Shams Mulani forged a fightback for his team with three sixes and two fours in the final few overs to ensure his team finished strong with 136 runs after their quota of 20 overs.
Mulani later starred with the ball as well, picking up the wicket of last game’s star performer for the Eagles Kaushik Chikhalikar. Captain Kulkarni joined the act as well, dismissing the other opener Sachin Wagh to leave the Aakash Tigers reeling at 10/2 after three overs.
The new players Tare and Sarfaraz Khan though managed to push the pressure back onto the bowling side by playing out the rest of the powerplay overs without any further casualties. Tare then took to charge to Tendulkar, scoring two consecutive boundaries off Tendulkar's second over to get his team’s score beyond fifty.
The keeper-batsman continued his barrage with back-to-back fours off Gomel’s first over to reduce the asking rate to under seven. A couple of overs later, Khan joined the party as well with three boundaries on the trot to get the equation down to a run a ball for the last seven overs.
In the 16th over, Tare swept on to the leg side to complete a hundred run partnership with Khan for the fourth wicket, but immediately after that, the duo was caught in a horrible mix which resulted in the Tare walking back to the pavilion after a well made fifty.
Khan though stayed till the end and ensured there were no last-minute hiccups, ensuring his side got across the line in the final over with new man Alpesh Ramjani too playing a vital cameo at the end.
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