T20 Mumbai League: Suryakumar Yadav, Kalpesh Swant lead Triumph Knights to final

Triumph Knights skipper Suryakumar Yadav plays a square drive during Qualifier 1 of the T20 Mumbai League against SoBo SuperSonics at the Wankhede Stadium in Churchgate yesterday. Pic/Atul Kamble

Riding on disciplined bowling efforts from off-spinner Kalpesh Sawant (3-13), left-arm spinner Aditya Dhumal (2-23), pacer Prateek Dabholkar (2-34) and skipper Suryakumar Yadav's half-century, Triumph Knights (TK) stormed into the final of the inaugural T20 Mumbai League. Yesterday, Triumph beat SoBo SuperSonics by 40 runs in Qualifier 1 at the Wankhede Stadium.

Chasing 163 for victory, SS lost in-form opener Jay Bista for a duck in the first ball of the innings off Dabholkar. Bista tried to drive one over the short cover fielder, but ended up giving a straight-forward catch to Vinayak Bhoir. By the end of the Powerplay, SS found themselves in all sorts of trouble with the loss of their most experienced all-rounder, skipper Abhishek Nayar, who did not trouble the scorers. At this stage, SS were 45 for three.

Kalpesh Sawant

Sujit Nayak, who smashed 99 against ARCS Andheri on Saturday, managed only two off 10 before Sawant sent him back - caught by Suryakumar at cover. At the half-way mark, SS were 63 for four and were bowled out for 122 in 19.1 overs. Earlier, put into bat, Shashank Singh (34) and Shikhar Thakur (22) gave TK a good start stitching a 40-run opening stand. However, the Mumbai North East side lost one-drop batsman Sumit Ghadigaonkar (2) and No. 4 batsman Aditya Dhumal (3) in quick succession. TK were 48 for three after nine overs. However, the arrival of Suryakumar changed the complexion of the innings. The hard-hitting batsman's 35-ball 63, laced with four hits over the fence and five boundaries, propelled TK to a decent total.

Batting all-rounder Akash Parkar was at the crease for 45 minutes, but remained unbeaten on 14 off 11 balls with the help of a solitary boundary. Nayar was among the successful SS bowlers, claiming two for 19, while pacers Badre Alam and Ankur Singh and left-arm spinners Dhrumil Matkar and Harmeet Singh picked one wicket apiece.