Majhi Mumbai crowned champions; beat Srinagar Ke Veer in thrilling final

As the curtains drew on an electrifying second season of the Indian Street Premier League ISPL with Majhi Mumbai eventually clinching the title after pipping Srinagar Ke Veer by three wickets in a nailbiting summit clash at the jampacked Dadoji Kondadev Stadium in Thane the tournament truly lived up to its billing of a dazzling spectacle of cricketing brillianceThe capacity crowd was treated to a riveting contest as the match went down to the wire with fortunes swinging both ways before Mumbai the runnersup of the inaugural ISPL season finally getting home with Ankurrsquos gigantic sixEvery six smashed every wicket taken and every dive on the field echoed the spirit of millions who grew up playing with a tennis ball Bringing together the raw energy of young guns and the masterful experience of seasoned campaigners the 20day tournament was a perfect symphony of edgeoftheseat thrillers and captivating musical performancesEndorsed by the God of Cricket mdash Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar member of the ISPL core committee the tournament has grown from strength to strength allowing dreamers who once played in the gullies maidans and streets to find themselves in the spotlight proving that talent knows no boundariesAlso ReadTejas Dhingra Retains National Championship Title at NEC Show Jumping 202425Tendulkar along with fellow members of the ISPL core committee including Ashish Shelar Suraj Samat and Minal Amol Kale graced the final along with Bollywood superstars Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar mdash the owners of the ISPL Season 2 finalists mdash Majhi Mumbai and Srinagar Ke VeerAfter Mumbai won the toss and opted to field Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar also took part in a fun TipToe to choose the dugout with Tendulkar donning the umpirersquos role The Sr Bachchan also took part in the Mumbai team huddle while Akshay was seen motivating his players in the Srinagar dugoutPut in to bat Srinagar rode a powerpacked show from the opening pair of Sagar Ali and Akash Tarekar with the duo putting up the highest first wicket partnership of 108 runs before losing five wickets in a span of 12 runs to eventually post 1205 mdash the highest total in the ISPL finalAkash who has blown hot and cold throughout the tournament saved his best for the big final slamming an unbeaten 59 off 32 deliveries powered by three boundaries and five colossal sixes It was Sagar who started the onslaught with a six on the opening over before Akash announced his arrival and later went on to outscore his partner Sagar eventually was dismissed in the penultimate over of their innings after scoring a 23ball 40 laced with four massive sixes while the rest of the batters succumbed attempting the glory shots For Mumbai Abhishek Kumar Dalhor who already was leading the seasonrsquos wickettakers chart added two more to take his tally to 24In response skipper Vijay Pawle led Majhi Mumbairsquos recovery after the side lost wickets in heaps with a responsible innings and found Birendra as an able ally with the duo milking Dilip Binjwa for 39 runs off the 5050 Challenge Over to turn things aroundMumbai got off to a perfect start raising 25 runs off the power play before losing their way to struggle at 64 for 6 but Pawlersquos arrival changed the complexion of the game as the skipper slammed an unbeaten 9ball 22 powered by three sixes and Birendra slamming a 6ball 14 containing a couple of mammoth sixes With Mumbai needing six off the final over Ankur missed the firsts two balls before launching the third over the skies to bring home the cupThis season of the ISPL was more than just taking cricket from the Street to Stadium it was about transforming dreams into reality proving that the next cricketing hero could emerge from anywhere The tournament has not only gave the tennis ball cricketers the spotlight but also provided them the financial security mdash with Majhi Mumbairsquos star allrounder Abhishek Kumar Dalhor emerging the most expensive player of this season after being roped in for a whopping Rs 2050 lakhThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever