T20 Mumbai League: Tare’s Falcons survive Royals fightback

SOBO Mumbai Falcons skipper during his 42 against MSC Maratha Royals at Wankhede on Thursday. Pic/Ashish Raje

All the good work by spinners Maxwell Swaminathan and Atharva Bhosale of defending champions Mumbai South Central Maratha Royals, was undone by one erratic over of medium pace from Arjun Dani against SoBo Mumbai Falcons in a T20 Mumbai League match on Thursday.

Defending a below-par 152-9, the Royals were well and truly in the game, reducing the Falcons to 127-7 in the 17th over, courtesy off-spinner Swaminathan (2-24) and left-armer Bhosale (1-17), who combined to concede only 41 in eight overs.

Needing seven for victory off the last over though, Falcons were gifted runs by medium pacer Dani, bowling for the first time in the match. Dani sent down a no ball first up to Vedant Gore and a single was taken. The next two deliveries were wide outside the off-stump. With four runs in the bag for the Falcons and all six legal deliveries remaining, Dani then bowled a full toss to Gautam Waghela (26 not out), who deposited the free hit over the mid-wicket fence, giving the Falcons a three-wicket win with five deliveries to spare.

Earlier, Captain Aditya Tare gave Falcons a bright start, slamming three sixes and four fours in his 42. India's ODI vice-captain Shreyas Iyer, in as Impact Sub at No. 3, played a cameo, slamming sixes over cover and long-on off left-arm spinner Aditya Dhumal before he was dismissed leg before wicket by Swaminathan. Iyer's 30 off 24 balls (2x4s, 2x6s) gave Falcons the momentum before the spin duo of Swaminathan and Bhosale brought the Royals back in the game. "We have a really talented spin attack. I'm very impressed with [15-year-old leg-spinner] Vedant Gore [0-15], the way he bowled those four overs under pressure and changed the momentum for us," said Falcons captain Tare.

Brief scores
MSCMR 152-9 in 20 overs (S Jadhav 52, A Dani 35; A Parkar 3-22, Y Dicholkar 3-25) lost to SMF 156-7 in 19.1 overs (A Tare 42, S Iyer 30; M Swaminathan 2-24) by three wickets