T20 Mumbai: Ranjane steers ARCS Andheri to six-wicket win

Shubham Ranjane made an unbeaten 71, his innings laced with five fours and three sixes.

Shubham Ranjane's unbeaten 71 and his 114-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Praful Waghela laid the foundation for six-wicket win for ARCS Andheri.

Led by a fierce show of aggression by Shubham Ranjane (71 not out, 42b, 5x4, 3x6) and Praful Waghela (45, 31b, 3x4, 1x6), ARCS Andheri overcame North Mumbai Panthers’ modest target of 161 with six wickets in hand and two balls to spare in the T20 Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.

Things looked hopeless when in nine overs Andheri lost its top three with only 41 on the board. Then Ranjane and the left-handed Waghela sent North Mumbai Panthers’ bowlers on a leather hunt and added 114 runs off 63 balls for the fourth wicket. Gaurav Jathar flicked on an onside boundary to bring to an end a well-contested match.

Earlier, playing its fourth match, Andheri deployed three left-arm finger spinners to choke the supply of runs for the Prithvi Shaw-led Panthers. Salil Agarkar, Iqbal Abdulla and Gaurav Jathar, all experienced, conceded a mere 60 in 12 overs and picked up two wickets each.

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They were also responsible for bowling much of the 37 dot balls that largely checked Panthers’ momentum.

Bold hitting

Bold hitting by the lower order in Atif Attarwala and Rahul Sawant enabled Panthers post a challenging total of 160. From 121 for six, Panthers added 39 off the last 18 balls.

The bizarre nature of the T20 format was seen in the first over sent down by Andheri’s seamer Tushar Deshpande to Shaw. The bowler won a keen early tussle, not conceding a run off the first three balls. But Shaw had the final say smashing two fours and a six off the next three.

After blasting his way to 14, Shaw suffered a painful blow high on his right thigh, while employing the sweep shot to Agarkar. After an injury break of six minutes, Shaw perished lifting the spinner to Kevin Almeida at wide mid-on.

Virant Auti (31, 24b, 5x4) and Karan Hande (40, 31b, 2x4, 1x6) then enabled their side reach 51 at the conclusion of PowerPlay. Panthers, however, lost their middle order to some accurate spin bowling. Both Agarkar and Abdulla completed their quota of four overs by the 16th, and it was up to Jathar, who hurt his bowling hand, to get into the act before the end-overs charge by Attarwala and Sawant.