Tambe, Iyer star in Bandra Blasters' second win
Tambe picked up three wickets from his four overs, while Iyer notched an unbeaten 53 off 35 balls.
Shreyas Iyer led from the front to register the second consecutive win for NaMo Bandra Blasters in the T20 Mumbai League on Tuesday night at the Wankhede Stadium. The bowlers, spearheaded by 46-year-old leg-spinner Pravin Tambe, bowled out Arcs Andheri for a paltry 107 and then had an easy chase to victory.
Iyer scored his second consecutive half-century of the tournament. His 98-run undefeated partnership with Nikhil Patil made ensured that the Blasters chased down the target without much fuss.
Iyer remained unbeaten on 53 scored off 35 balls with the help of five fours and two sixes. Patil remained unbeaten on 39 with the help of four fours and a six. The duo saw Blasters home with 40 balls and nine wickets to spare, giving a good lift to their net run-rate.
The Andheri side, whose icon player Rohit Sharma is currently leading the India T20 team in Sri Lanka, missed the services of their main allrounder Shubham Ranjane who was unfit.
Barring the 35-run opening stand between Subramnian Doraiswamy and Akhil Herwadkar, there was no notable partnership for the ARCS. Dorayswamy and Siddharth Chitnis were the only ARCS batsmen to get past 20.
Tambe gave away just eight runs from his four overs and picked up three important wickets. Aishwarya Surve and Azhar Ansari chipped in with two wickets each to support Tambe, while off-spinner Aniket Redkar was at his accurate best, giving away just nine runs from his three overs and taking the wicket of Akhil Herwadkar.
Shivam Dubey show
Earlier, all-rounder Shivam Dubey picked a five-wicket haul and then hammered an unbeaten 47 with the bat to lead Shivaji Park Lions to their first win of the tournament. The Lions led by Siddhesh Lad, registered a seven-wicket win over Mumbai North East Triumph Knights.
Dubey took 5/24 in his four overs to restrict the Knights, who had chased down 182 a day before, to a meagre 152. Openers Praful Waghela (42) and Sumit Ghadigaonkar (36) gave Knights a good start and then Surya Kumar Yadav made a breezy 35 in 15 balls. But after Yadav’a dismissal, they lost their way as Dubey took over the proceedings.
Dubey then struck four sixes and two boundaries to chase down the target after Bravish Shetty (60 not out) and Lad (30) had set the platform.