In the fight for a semi-final slot, Shivam Dube swung the momentum Mumbai's way after hitting three successive sixes.
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Photo: BCCI/Twitter
A blazing fifty from Prithvi Shaw and a cameo from Shivam Dube overcame Jharkhand's competitive total and sealed the game for Mumbai by five wickets in the Super League Group B match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at the Lalbhai Contractor Stadium in Surat on Sunday.
Put in to bat first, Jharkhand made merry scoring at a rate of 10.5 till the eighth over, registering a boundary in each, before Shubham Ranjane put the brakes on the flow of runs by getting rid of Kumar Deobrat, who had smashed a 30-ball 58.
No boundaries came off the bat in the next four overs, with Shubham Ranjane dismissing captain Saurabh Tiwary in his subsequent over as variation and change of pace made him Mumbai's most effective bowler of the day, ending with figures of 2/14 in his quota of four.
From 84/0 in the eighth over, Jharkhand slowed down to 124/3 in the 16th, meaning only 40 runs were scored in between the eight overs at an economy of five as three wickets fell.
But Jharkhand came back in the final four overs to hammer 46 runs and put up a score of 170/5, two dropped catches not helping the fielding side in their cause.
Photo: BCCI/TwitterMumbai started their chase strongly as Aditya Tare and Prithvi Shaw, who led North Mumbai Panthers to the Season 2 title in T20 Mumbai, put on 82 for the first wicket with the latter blazing away. After a subdued first over, the next five produced 56 at a rate of just over 11, with Prithvi Shaw hammering five sixes in the period and bringing up his fifty in just 28 balls.
Aditya Tare fell in the tenth over for 21 and Prithvi Shaw in the 12th for 64 in just 39 balls with 4 fours and 5 sixes including successive ones off Sonu Singh, with the duo's departure slowing the chase down.
From 80 for no loss at the end of the ninth over, Mumbai were bogged down to 107/3 at the end of the 14th as 27 runs came in the five overs and another 64 were needed in 36 balls at a rate of 10.66 with two new batsmen at the crease.
It was here where Shivam Dube turned the game around as he smacked off-spinner Utkarsh Singh for three successive sixes, the first smacked at long-on, the next straight down the ground and the third swept beyond the mid-wicket boundary before holing out to deep square leg as he went for the fourth, leaving for an 11-ball 23.
That brought Siddhesh Lad in, and he immediately got off the mark with a boundary by slapping it in the covers and then scored two off the final balls, producing 24 runs in the over. The brought the equation down to 40 runs needed off 30 balls, swaying the game in Mumbai's favour.
Although Mumbai lost one more wicket, Siddhesh Lad kept the score ticking and ended up unbeaten on 18 (10b) while Sujit Nayak smacked three boundaries in his 17* (12b) to steer their side to a five-wicket win with five balls to spare.
Mumbai will play their next Super League match against Karnataka on Monday as they continue their efforts to reach the semi-final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
