After some early hiccups , Juhu Heroes turned the tables on Pardigm Borivali Warriors to win the final by seven wickets in the SAI-Mumbai Masters T-20 League, powered by Paradigm Reality, played at the Police Gymkhana’s floodlit ground, last night.
Chief Guest Dilip Vengsarkar , ex-Indian cricketer along with MMPL Director Jwala Singh present the trophy to the Juhu Heroes captain Rushab Ajmera after their triumph in the SAI-Mumbai Masters T-20 League.
Opting to bat first after winning the toss, the Borivali side was in for a shock as they lost their opener Vinod Lund (4) to leftarm spinner Vishal Shinde in his very first over, while one-down Pratik Sanghavi (0) was run out in a mix-up soon after in Vishal’s second over. They did recover though their most consistent opener Shahen Mistry (He ended by being the highest score in the league) and skipper Niket Korgaonkar. The pair took the score to 60 before Niket fell for 31 in the 13th over. Shahen, too, followed him soon in the next over. Shahen appeared to have lost patience, as he went for expansive drive to be caught off in the deep of offspinner Nikesh Patani for 36. Thereafter it became a rather slogtime for the rest of the batsmen as they in the end managed to reach a fighting score of 157 for eight in the stipulated 20 overs.
While chasing 158 for win, the Juhu Heroes, openers too were jolted as both were back in the hut with score just crossing double digit. Though they did lost another wicket before Pratik Patil, who came one-down and Sagar Ghadigaonkar batted aggressively but with caution, to see their side achieve the target without being separated. Pratik, who remained unbeaten with 81 with 10 fours and a six) was adjudged the man-of-the-match – for the fourth time in the league. He finished with 415, second behind the highest run-getter ‘Warriors’ Shahen Mistry, who ended with 424 runs.
Chief guest Dilip Vengsarkar, former Indian captain and EX-chairman of national selection committee, who gave away the trophies, lauded organiser Jwala Singh’s and Amit Wadhwani effort in promoting cricket locally, especially among junior age group levels and those who missed the opportunities during their heydays. He also thanked Parth Mehta and Prem Ramchandani of Paradigm Reality, Sanjeev Gupta Of Global Advertises and other sponsors for their support.
Brief scores of the final: Borivali Warriors 157/8 off 20 overs (Shahen Mistry 36, Niket Korgaonkar 31,Lavesh Mehra 44, Sanket Kandonkar 26; Vishal Shinde 2/14, Nikesh Patani 4/26) lost to Juhu Heroes 162/3 off 18.6 overs (Pratik Patil n.o. 81 (14×4, 1×6), Sagar Ghadigaonkar n.o.47; Shavir Afsan 2/25) by 7 wkts.