Dubey stars in the eliminator

Pravin Tambe became a victim of Shivam Dubey’s revenge on Monday as the Shivaji Park Lions came up with a terrific batting performance to shut out NaMo Bandra Blasters and make it to the second qualifier of the T20 Mumbai League.

A night before, Dubey was on the bowling end when Sobo Supersonics needed three runs to win on the last ball and their batsman Dhrumil Matkar packed a six. Dubey’s wrath came down on Tambe who saw the ball go over the ropes five times in one over as he conceded 32 runs with Dubey doing the damage turning the game to his team.

Chasing 170 for the victory, Lions paced their innings brilliantly. They batted cautiously in the first half, scored at less than six runs per over for the first nine overs, and then launched a superb counter-attack against the opposition bowling to cross the finish line with 14 balls and six wickets to spare.

Skipper Bravish Shetty (57 not out off 30 balls, seven fours, two sixes) and Shivam Dubey (54 off 23 balls, one four, six sixes) were the chief architects of the Lions chase.

It was actually Shetty and Alpesh Ramjani who started the turnaround for Lions by smashing 30 runs off two overs (over No 10 and 11).

And once Ramjani was dismissed, it was the Shetty-Dubey show. The duo hammered 81 runs from 37 balls to make it a comfortable chase in the end for Lions. Dubey smashed the fastest fifty of the tournament—in 21 balls—to turn the game on its head. With 37 runs required off the last four overs, Dubey smashed leg-spinner Pravin Tambe for five sixes in one over to end the game as a contest. Shetty then struck Atul Singh into square-leg stands to complete the formalities.

The Blasters’ did a great job of reaching 169, after a relatively slow first half. It was a gritty knock from their skipper Iyer that helped the Blasters pass the 160-run mark.

Iyer was struggling to time the ball as well as he had done throughout the tournament.  He wasn’t able to find boundaries with ease early on. But Aman Khan took the pressure off him at that stage with a 26-ball 36-run knock. Khan’s five fours and one six allowed Iyer to take a bit more time than usual to find his feet.

And once Iyer did, it was all one-way traffic. Batting on 46 from 44 balls, Iyer smashed left-arm spinner Alpesh Ramjani for three massive sixes in one over. There was no stopping Iyer in the last four overs, as he raced to 91 not out from 58 balls. It meant Iyer’s last 45 runs came off 14 balls. His knock, his fifth 50 in six games in the tournament, included three fours and seven sixes. Nikhil Patil scored nine of three deliveries as he and Iyer took 27 runs off the final eight deliveries of the innings. In all, Blasters scored 106 runs in the second half of their innings.

For Lions, Shams Mulani finished as the most successful bowler with figures of 2-14 from three overs.

Brief score: Namo Bandra Blasters 169 for 4 in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 91 not out, Aman Khan 36, Shams Mulani 2-14) lost to Shivaji Park Lions 172 for 4 in 17.4 overs (Bravish Shetty 57 not out, Shivam Dubey 54) by six wickets.