Mumbai team downs the Lions by 35 runs with a great display of restrictive bowling
GURGAON: The Mumbai Champs secured just their second win in the Eidelweiss 20s by beating Chandigarh Lions by 35 runs at Gurgaon on Tuesday. They have moved away from the Ahmedabad Rockets at the bottom of the table with four points, leaving that side stone cold last on just two.
After the Champs captain Nathan Astle won the toss and decided his team would bat first, he was rewarded with the sight of opener Dheeraj Yadav walking back to the pavilion scoreless after just three balls, caught by Gupta off Hall. Number three Raviraj Patil followed soon afterwards to leave the Champs tottering on 15-2. The other opener Subhojit Paul had other ideas however, and as soon as he was joined by Skipper Astle, the two set about resurrecting the innings. Both scored at quicker than a run a ball in compiling a partnership of 60, that saw the Champs to 75 before Paul was finally bowled by Ablish for 30.
Astle went for 42 soon after, but the tempo was maintained by quick bursts from Powar (18) and hanolkar (15), while Ranjit Khirid’s contribution coming in at number seven was 32 off just 21 balls. Wickets went cheaply at the end, with batsmen looking to slog, but the Champs managed a creditable 160 for nine in their 20 overs. The Lion’s bowler looked for the most part toothless, with the notable exception of Andrew Hall, whose figures of 3-0-8-4 made excellent reading in a Twenty20 match.
Losing by 35 runs in a match of just 20 overs is unusual for a team who were not bowled out, but that is exactly what happened to the Chandigarh Lions when they came to reply. The plaudits go to the Mumbai bowlers, who kept a stranglehold on the scoring rate throughout.
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