Season 2 of T20 Mumbai kicked off with great aplomb, with two high octane matches entertaining the Wankhede crowd. The first game was clinched by debutants Aakash Tigers Mumbai Western Suburbs while SoBo Supersonics emerged victorious in the evening game. They were several noteworthy performances from the opening day, but these two were the standouts.

Suryakumar leads from the front

Triumph Knights Mumbai North East captain Suryakumar Yadav was a cut above the rest on the opening day, carrying on from where he left off last season with back-to-back scores of 90 in the league. Despite his team constantly losing wickets, Surya held the fort from one end and ensured his side finished strong.

With his team struggling at 38/3 after seven overs, he started off slowly playing the anchor role. He finally switched gears in the final few overs of the game, scoring his last 45 runs off just 15 deliveries. The middle-order batsman smoked four sixes and a four in the last over bowled by Minad Manjrekar, ending at 90* and ensuring the Triumph Knights finished with a competitive score despite going at a run rate of six for most of the innings.

Parag Khanapurkar shows his class

SoBo Supersonic’s southpaw batsman Parag Khanapurkar got off the blistering start to his T20 Mumbai campaign, usurping Yadav’s score in a mere matter of hours. Khanapurkar began his onslaught right from the beginning of his inning despite his team looking vulnerable at 33/2. The southpaw let his bat do the talking as SoBo Supersonics waddled away from that tricky period to pile a massive total in their batting effort.

He forged a match-winning partnership of 118 runs with Mansingh Nigade. He smashed 10 fours and five sixes as he stitched together a brilliant innings of 96 runs, before being run out just four runs shy of becoming the league’s first ever centurion. Nevertheless, his efforts ensured the SoBo Supersonics emerged victorious in their opening game and claimed their position as table toppers after day one.