Although there were four fifties on the night, the knocks from these two opening batsmen stood out the most.
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The ARCS Andheri and North Mumbai Panthers played out a thrilling semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium, with the team in dark blue finally emerging victorious to make their first ever T20 Mumbai final thanks to a four off the last ball from 47-years-young Pravin Tambe to settle the game in favour of the Panthers. There were several players who stood out with bat and ball on the grand stage of the knockout game, but here are the top two performers of the night.
Herwadkar finds his form
Akhil Herwadkar started off the tournament brilliantly, scoring two fifties in the first three games for his side, claiming two man-of-the-match accolades as well. However, he had a slight dip in form as he got out for single figures in the next two. Come the semi-final, Herwadkar let his bat do the talking as he scored a sensational 69 runs which helped get his side to a strong total of 166. Despite losing his opening partner Kevin Almeida early on, the southpaw stayed resolute as he forged a sixty-run partnership with Iqbal Abdulla. He showed great poise and experience in playing off the spinners Rahul Sawant and Pravin Tambe on the sluggish track; and targeting the North Mumbai Panthers’ pacers. The 24-year-old smashed six fours and two sixes; and ended as the top scorer for the ARCS Andheri on the night.
Prithvi leads from the front
North Mumbai Panthers captain Prithvi Shaw had been getting starts for his side in every game with his aggressive batting, but this time he went one better as he got his highest score of the tournament. The teenager curbed his natural attacking instincts as he took things more cautiously this time around, building from the front to take his side through to their first ever final. Despite his side at 40/3 just after the powerplay, Shaw held his nerve as he built a 114-run partnership alongside Swapnil Salvi to take his team to a position of comfort. He was given two chances, dropped at 31 and 66 runs and made the most of those chances by smashing six fours and three sixes in a scintillating knock of 76. Although he couldn’t stay till the end and was stumped in the 17th over, his man-of-the-match performance ensured the Panthers made the 2019 T20 Mumbai final.
