Shreyas Iyer’s mammoth effort with the bat wasn’t enough to save NaMo Bandra Blasters from slipping out of T20 Mumbai after a 6-wicket loss against Shivaji Park Lions in the Eliminator match at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday. Shivam Dubey scored the fastest half century of the series for the Lions, to take them to their target with plenty of balls to spare.

After winning the toss, NaMo Bandra Blaster made the unusual choice of batting first to make full use of the help the Wankhede pitch provides the batsmen early on. They were slow to start their innings but once they got going there was no stopping them, as Iyer held nothing back and creamed 3 fours and 7 sixes on the way to an unbeaten 91. However, two brilliant half centuries by Shivaji Park Lions captain Bravish Shetty and all-rounder Shivam Dubey eclipsed his efforts completely and took the Lions into the next round.

Shreyas Iyer played an unusually subdued innings initially as Aman Hakim Khan went berserk from the other end. Iyer’s first boundary came in the form of a six in the 35^th ball that he faced, showing how careful he was in the early part of his innings.

But once Iyer shifted gears he starts racing away, taking Alpesh Ramjani for three huge sixes in the 17^th over to signal his intentions loud and clear.  

Iyer ran amok from there to reach 91 runs, after hammering 20 off the last over. Nikhil Patil too played a useful hand in the end scoring two fours off the 3 balls that he faced before handing over the strike to Iyer.

The Blasters took the score to 169 with the loss of four wickets, which looked more than a handful for a Shivaji Park Lions batting line-up which was struggling to get going consistently through the innings.

However, Shivaji Park proved all their critics wrong when they came in to bat on Monday. They got off to a flyer courtesy opener Paul Valthaty, who dug into the bowling, scoring 3 quick fours and a six.  Even after he departed, the Lions made sure not to lose quick wickets at any stage, keeping the acceleration for the end of the innings.

After a watchful spell in the middle overs by Bravish Shetty and Shivam Dubey to see off the threat of the Bandra spinners, Dubey brought out the fireworks against Pravin Tambe. He scored 5 huge sixes and scored 32 runs off Tambe in a single over, on the way to the league’s fastest 50 in just 21 deliveries.

Dubey’s flourish overshadowed Shetty’s effort on the day, who also scored his 50 and stayed on till the end to finish off the job for his team.

In the end it was a complete carnage as Shetty finished the match with a six and Shivaji Park Lions sealed a spot in the second Qualifier with more than 2 overs to spare. 

Score kya hua?

NaMo Bandra Blasters 169 for 4 (Shreyas Iyer 91*, Aman Hakim Khan 36, Shams Mulani 2-14) lost to

Shivaji Park Lions 172 for 4 (Bravish Shetty 57*, Shivam Dubey 54, Karsh Kothari 1-4) by 6 wickets

For the complete match scorecard, click here.