T20 Mumbai

The fourth day of T20 Mumbai kicks off with the Shivaji Park Lions making their first foray into the league this season with a game against ARCS Andheri who will be playing their third game. The game under lights will see NaMo Bandra Blasters facing the North Mumbai Panthers with Shreyas Iyer’s side looking to pick up their first points of the season.

This is what you can expect from the fixtures of day four.

Takkar No. 1: Shivaji Park Lions vs ARCS Andheri

Last season’s beaten finalists Shivaji Park Lions will be in action for the first time on Friday after enjoying the games from the headlines until now. On the batting front, they have experienced campaigners like captain Siddhesh Lad, wicket-keeper Hardik Tamore as well as explosive batsman Rudra Dandey. They also have a couple of genuine all-rounders in Shivam Dube and Raunaq Sharma while the bowling attack is marshalled by North Mumbai Panthers’ leading wicket-taker from last season Shivam Malhotra. The Lions seem to have a very balanced side heading into their season opener.

The opponents ARCS Andheri have a win and a loss from their first two games but would be confident heading into Friday after that thrilling last over victory against the Bandra Blasters. The ARCS batsman Shubham Ranjane and Akhil Herwardkar are looking in fine touch after their match winning knocks on Wednesday. On the bowling front, their retained player Tushar Deshpande remains their trump card, with the side looking for improvements from veteran bowlers Vineet Sinha and Iqbal Abdulla.

Kya Bolta Hai?

Shivaji Park Lions seem to have great balance in their team, however ARCS Andheri would be confident after a strong display a couple of days ago. If their bowlers can curb the Lions’ scoring rate in the slog overs, the team from Andheri could make it two straight wins.

Takkar No. 2: North Mumbai Panthers vs NaMo Bandra Blasters

North Mumbai Panthers’ captain Prithvi Shaw batted brilliantly on his Season 2 debut before being run out for 22; and would therefore be looking to make amends with a big score on Friday. His side would be optimistic about their chances with the likes of Sairaj Patil and Karan Nande starring with the bat as well. Bowling could be an area of concern for the Panthers with nobody except Shashikant Kadam having a good outing early on; and would therefore be looking for more from their experienced campaigners like Pravin Tambe and Prathamesh Dake.

NaMo Bandra Blasters would be looking to make amends after falling short in the opening game. Captain Shreyas Iyer and wicket-keeper Eknath Kerkar would have to see off the threat of the new ball, so as to unleash the aggressive Sujit Nayak in the slog overs and get big totals. With respect to their bowling, the Blasters would be targeting an improvement as none of their specialist bowlers had a good game the last time around.

Kya Bolta Hai?

Expect a high scoring thriller when the Panthers face the Blasters as both sides possess a lot of power hitters in their roster. The team with the bowlers that can hold their nerve on the day will emerge victorious when these two sides clash on Friday.