T20 Mumbai League: SoBo Mumbai Falcons ready to face NaMo Bandra Blasters in semis
Mumbai: Shreyas Iyer will be hoping to reach a second successive final when his side SoBo Mumbai Falcons takes on NaMo Bandra Blasters in the second semifinal of the T20 Mumbai League at the Wankhede Stadium here on Tuesday.
A week back, Iyer had guided Punjab Kings to the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at Ahmedabad, where they finished runners-up to Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Having already secured their spot in T20 Mumbai League semifinals, SoBo Mumbai Falcons warmed up for the knockout stage with a facile win against Aakash Tigers Mumbai Western Suburbs in the last league stage match at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday night.
The five-wicket win – set up by Ishan Mulchandani's second fifty of the season and his crucial partnership with captain Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who took over from Shreyas Iyer for Sunday night's game – was SoBo Mumbai Falcons' fourth win in five league games. Eagle Thane Strikers were the only other team to win four league games.
It means that the Falcons will take on NaMo Bandra Blasters in the second semifinal on Tuesday under lights at the Wankhede Stadium. The Falcons' troupe – led by Shreyas and Raghuvanshi and ably guided by Team Principal Vikrant Yeligati – has all the bases covered heading into the business of the tournament.
As he showcased during his 99-run partnership with Raghuvanshi at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday night, Mulchandani was in sublime touch. With 147 runs, he is the Falcons' highest run-getter of the tournament. Similarly, Siddharth Raut continued his exploits with the new ball as the seasoned pacer justified his billing as the leader of the pace pack.
Add to that the fact that the allrounder duo of Vinayak Bhoir and Akash Parkar – who had a four-wicket haul against Aakash Tigers – are in top gear, underlines that the Falcons are a well-oiled machine that's raring to go at full throttle against the Blasters. Both Bhoir – the left-arm spinner and left-handed batter – and Parkar, the big-hitter and a right-arm pacer, have had at least one notable contribution both with the bat and the ball.
While the seasoned duo has maintained the balance of the team, the Falcons have also unearthed the find of the tournament in Harsh Aghav. The young batter can dominate the bowlers with textbook shots. He will be hoping to withstand the big-match pressure at the Big W on Tuesday night.
The winner of the first semifinal between Eagle Thane Strikers and MSC Maratha Royals – to be played on Tuesday afternoon – will be keeping a close watch on the Falcons' semifinal, just like scores of the Falcons' fan army that will be cheering the squad at the top of their voice.
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