T20 Mumbai League 2019: Match 19, Review: Rakesh Prabhu’s onslaught helps Strikers register a big win over the Blasters

Eagle Thane Strikers have kept themselves in the hunt to qualify for the semi-finals big time with a huge win over the Namo Bandra Blasters in the match 19 of the ongoing T20 Mumbai League. The Strikers needed to chase the 149-run target as soon as possible to stay alive and they aced it with as many as 52 deliveries to spare thanks to Rakesh Prabhu. He smashed an unbeaten 64 off just 21 balls with a solitary four and 8 massive sixes to see his team home in the 12th over.

Earlier, Karsh Kothari sent back Jaideep Pradeshi in the very first over after which the skipper Aditya Tare and Alpesh Ramjani added 47 runs for the second wicket. Aditya Dhumal got the better of the latter in the sixth over which made things interesting. But nobody had anticipated the onslaught coming from Rakesh Prabhu and the batsman played some breathtaking shots during his short stay at the crease.

In his short stay, he finished the game in no time and Tare should also be credited here for smashing a 27-ball half-century before getting out to Aditya Dhumal with only nine runs needing for a victory. Prabhu made sure in the end that they got over the line without any hiccups.

Blasters stutter to 148

Earlier in the day, the Strikers opted to bowl first and the Blasters’ openers Eknath Kerkar and Prasad Pawar were back in the hut in the first four overs itself. Shreyas Iyer and Shrideep Mangela rebuilt the innings then but there was no pace to the innings at any stage. The 39-run stand was broken with the former getting out to Prashant Solanki.

Mangela continued to play his shots and scored vital 42 runs off 34 balls. It was Nikhil Patil’s assault off 21 runs off 11 deliveries that propelled the Blasters to 148 runs for the loss of seven wickets after 20 overs. But little did they thought about the assault which was to follow in the second innings and the total proved very much below-par.

Brief Scores:

NaMo Bandra Blasters 148/7 after 20 overs (S Mangela 42, S Nayak 26*; K Hanagavadi 2/33)

Eagle Thane Strikers 150/3 after 11.2 overs (R Prabhu 64*, A Tare 50; A Dhumal 2/29)

Result: Eagle Thane Strikers won by seven wickets