Strikers make semi-final bid with thumping win over Blasters

Eagle Thane Strikers rose to the occasion with an emphatic victory against NaMo Bandra Blasters in their last league match of the T20 Mumbai and kept themselves in the hunt for a place in the semi-final Thursday.

The penultimate game of the league stage was a cross- group match, a unique feature adopted in this year's T20 Mumbai.

While the Blasters were out of contention with both the qualifiers from Group B having been already identified, the Strikers had to score a thumping win to not only get its tally to four points - same as the Triumph Knights Mumbai North East and Aakash Tigers MWS.

And the Strikers came up with a perfect outing against the Blasters.

While the bowlers justified the decision to insert the opposition by restricting Blasters to 148 for 7, a rejigged top-order, led by a whirlwind 34-ball 91-run partnership for the third wicket between captain Aditya Tare (50 off 27b, 5x4, 3x6) and Rakesh Prabhu (64* off 21b, 1x4, 8x6), meant the Strikers chased down the target in just 11.2 overs, losing just three wickets.

The win meant that the seven-wicket win helped Strikers surge from the bottom of the group to the second place.

It would mean that the last league game - another cross-group match - between Aakash Tigers MWS and Shivaji Park Lions will be a virtual quarter-final for the Tigers, with Strikers keeping their fingers crossed.

Brief Score: NaMo Bandra Blasters 148/7 in 20 overs (Shrideep Mangela 42, Sujit Nayak 26*, Shreyas Iyer 25; Kruthik Hanagavadi 2/33, Prashant Solanki 1/19) lost to Eagle Thane Strikers 150/3 in 11.2 overs (Rakesh Prabhu 64*, Aditya Tare 50, Alpesh Ramjani 29; Aditya Dhumal 2/29).