When it's one man's performance against a team effort, the latter usually wins. And that's exactly what happened at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday, when skipper Suryakumar Yadav's Triumphs Knights Mumbai North East went down to the Dhawal Kulkarni-led Aakash Tigers Mumbai Western Suburbs in the inaugural match of the T20 Mumbai League. The Tigers beat the defending champions by five wickets with three balls to spare.

Surya, the lone ranger

Just a day earlier, the in-form Suryakumar was celebrating his Indian Premier League team, Mumbai Indians's fourth title. However, yesterday, despite a fine performance by him — he scored an unbeaten 90 off 56 balls (7x6, 4x4) — his team could not begin the tournament on a winning note. Suryakumar, who won the toss and elected to bat, came to the crease when his team were in a spot of bother, at 25 for two. He began cautiously and took a good 31 deliveries before hitting his first six — a inside out shot to left-arm spinner Shams Mulani. He hit six more thereafter to dominate the innings.