Mumbai, June 8: The result of the SoBo Mumbai Falcons’ penultimate league match of T20 Mumbai’s third edition didn’t really matter. Thanks to its hat-trick of wins up front, it had already been assured of a place in the semifinals. Had it defeated Eagle Thane Strikers at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday night, all the other remaining qualification slots would have been up for grabs.

But an all-round display by the Strikers – and a sensational catch by Amit Pandey to dismiss SoBo Mumbai Falcons captain Shreyas Iyer – meant the Falcons ended up on the losing side for the first time in the season. After the Strikers put on 151 for eight after being inserted into bat, the Falcons were bowled out for 115 in the 16th over.

Despite opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi perishing early, Ishan Mulchandani and Shreyas – batting at No. 3 – gave Falcons a quickfire start. Even after Mulchandani succumbed to the Strikers captain Atharva Ankolekar’s left-arm spin, the Strikers had maintained a healthy run rate.

But it all changed in the last two overs of the Powerplay. In the fifth over, Harsh Aghav, the promising youngster, sacrificed his wicket for his captain after a misunderstanding between the two while running between the wickets.

Three balls later, Shreyas – who was till then in a sublime touch – top-edged a Sairaj Patil pace variation and the ball appeared to be falling between three fielders converging on it. But Amit Pandey – sprinting from mid-on all the way behind midwicket – lunged in the air, stretched out towards the ball, palmed it and even held on to after landing.

At 58/4, it was an uphill task on a pitch that was increasingly getting difficult to bat on. While Vinayak Bhoir nicked one down the leg early on in his innings, once Akash Parkar was adjudged lbw, the writing was on the wall.

Earlier in the evening, Siddharth Raut recovered from an injury scare the evening before, and continued his good work with the new ball. At 10 for three in the third over, the Falcons had put Strikers under pressure. But Sairaj Patil (61, 37b, 3x4, 5x6) played a stunning knock that not only bailed the Strikers out of trouble but also gave him the Orange Cap.

Once Aghav’s golden arm – he was the surprise pick among bowlers with three wickets – did the trick to dismiss Patil in the 15th over, Vinay Kunwar (39 off 25, 2x4, 2x6) finished the innings on a high for the Strikers.

The result of the match meant SoBo Mumbai Falcons, SCM Maratha Royals and the Strikers qualified for the semifinals with a game to spare.

Brief scores

Eagle Thane Strikers 151/8, 20 overs (Sairaj Patil 61, Vinay Kunwar 39; Harsh Aghav 3/30, Nikhil Giri 2/38) bt SoBo Mumbai Falcons 115 all out, 15.4 overs (Shreyas Iyer 25, Akash Parkar 19; Sairaj Patil 4/19, Atharva Ankolekar 3/35).

--IANS

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