A fine chinaman bowling spell by Ashwani Arora 5/20 and fine knocks by Harshad Koli (49) and Raju Govekar (n.o.48), Worli Pitch Smashers opened their campaign with a 7-wicket win over Chembur Strikers in the open tie in the 8-team SAI-Mumbai Masters T-20 League, powered by Paradigm Reality, which got off to impressive start under the lights at Mumbai Police Gymkhana ground,Marine Lines, last night.
Anita Parmar, Marketing Head of Sai Estates, the title sponsors, being introduced by Mr Jwala Singh, the director and Chief Organiser of the 8-team SAI-Mumbai Masters T-20 Cricket League, to rival captains Neil Dhankani- Chembur Strikers and Sagar Parikh -Worli Smashers .
Put into the bat, Chembur Strikers were in deep trouble, losing three quick wickets, before Adita Khandkar (70 -12×4, 3×6) together with Gurmeet Singh (22) and Vikram Thorvi (21) steered them to a fighting total (152) before they were all out in 18.3 overs. In reply, The Worli Smashers batsmen, without taking any undue risks, saw their side home with seven wickets to spare.
Earlier , as a part of their opening ceremony, Media XI scored over Hosts in a 10-over match with G. Krishnan from DNA, being the main architect of their win with a hard-hitting half century. Replying to Media XI’s score of 98 , the hosts ended with 80 for eight.
Beief scores: Chembur Strikers152 all out in 18.3 overs (Aditya Khandkar 70 (12×4, 3×6), Gurmeet Singh 22,Vikram Thorvi 21; Ashwani Arora 5/21, Ajoy Singh 2/9, Raju Goekar 2/31) lost to Worli Smashers 158/3 off 17.4 overs( Harshad Koli 48, Raju Govekar 48) by 7 wkts.