Photo: BCCI/Hotstar

Led by Suryakumar Yadav’s fifty and a team effort, Mumbai romped to their fourth straight win in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after they beat Puducherry by 27 runs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Put in to bat first, the home team got off to a strong start after openers Aditya Tare and Jay Bista found the boundaries with ease in the first four overs, where 43 runs were scored.

The opening duo, however, fell in quick succession by the seventh over, slowing the run rate as a result. Shreyas Iyer, fresh from his exploits against Bangladesh, hit the first six of the match as he set about to forge a partnership with captain Yadav.

In the 12th over, they upped the rate as they each smashed a maximum in the 12th over off Ashith Rajiv.

It was here that Sagar Trivedi, a former Shivaji Park Lions bowler from T20 Mumbai, stepped in and broke the partnership before they could spread their wings as he sent back Iyer for 19.

That brought Siddhesh Lad to the crease and he put on 65 for the fourth wicket with Yadav in just 35 balls before they perished in the final over. Lad hammered 39 off just 22 balls (4x4s, 2x6s) while the in-form Yadav, who brought up his fifty in style with a six, scored 57 in 37 deliveries with 6 fours and 2 sixes.

Both Yadav, captain of Triumph Knights Mumbai North East, and Lad were picked up by Trivedi, who went onto claim Shivam Dube in the last ball of the innings to register T20 career-best figures of 4/29 in his quota of four overs.

Mumbai scored 171/6 in their 20 overs, a target that became a little difficult to achieve when Puducherry lost their first wicket in just the second over after captain Damodaren Rohit was trapped in front by Shams Mulani.

Mulani struck again in the fourth over as Mumbai tightened the runs and the chase started slipping away from Puducherry, eventually ending up scoring 144/7 and losing the match by 27 runs.

While Mulani claimed 2/25 in his four overs, Tushar Deshpande registered 2/29 in his quota.

Mumbai are scheduled to play their next Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match on Thursday against Bengal.