Ketan Mhatre’s seven successive sixes in vain as Chennai Singams go down to Majhi Mumbai

Opener’s sizzling 60 not enough as Chennai Singams fall short by 21 runs

New Delhi, 11th March 2024: Ketan Mhatre smashed 60 off just 21 balls, but the opener’s nine sixes – including seven successive maximums – were in vain as Chennai Singams fell short by 21 runs against Majhi Mumbai in their Indian Street Premier League (ISPL) T10 match at the Dadoji Kondadev Stadium here on Sunday. It was Chennai’s first loss in the ISPL after back-to-back wins.

Mhatre mayhem
Faced with a steep target of 150, Mhatre revived the Chennai chase from 8 for 2 in some style. In seven deliveries he faced from the end of the second over to the start of the fourth over, Mhatre slammed seven successive sixes, sending the ball soaring every time in the arc between deep extra cover and deep midwicket.

Vijay Pawle was the bowler to take the maximum punishment as Mhatre slammed him for five consecutive sixes in the third over. Mhatre brought up his half-century in just 15 balls with his powerful hitting. But the opener departed in the sixth over, with Chennai still needing another 72.

50-50 challenge
One of the unique aspects of the ISPL is the 50-50 challenge. A batting team sets themselves a target of a minimum of 16 runs and chooses who should bowl from the opposition team. If the batting team achieves or exceeds the target, 50 per cent more runs are added. For example, if a team scores 20 runs, they will get 30 runs for that over and if they score 10 runs, they will get only five runs.

Chennai scored 17 runs off the 50-50 challenge off Devid Gogoi in the seventh over, boosting their total by 25 runs overall. But they also lost the wickets of Sanjay Kanojjiya and Vishwanath Jadhav (23 off 12).

Faced with a couple of tight overs from Pawle and Abhishek Kumar Dalhor, Chennai were left with too much to do in the last over from Gogoi, and ended on 128 for 9 in their ten overs.

Early strikes
With a couple of miserly overs from left-arm pacer R. Thavith Kumar, and strikes from Farman Khan and Jadhav, Chennai had Mumbai in some bother at 26 for 3. But 40s from Dalhor and Pawle, followed by some late strikes from Krushna Pawar and Ashraf Khan, took Mumbai to 149 for 5.

Brief scores: Majhi Mumbai: 149-5 in 10 overs (Abhishek Dalhor 43*,
Vijay Pawle 41; Vishwanath Jadhav 2-21, Farman Khan 2-33) bt Chennai
Singams 128-9 in 10 overs (Ketan Mhatre 60, Vishwanath Jadhav 23;
Abhishek Dalhor 3-20, Devid Gogoi 3-29) by 21 runs.