The six-wicket victory, achieved with an impressive 32 balls remaining, sets up a clash against MSC Maratha Royals, scheduled to take place at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday night.
After limiting the Blasters to 130 for eight, Ishan Mulchandani’s third fifty of the season allowed the Falcons to secure their win in the 15th over, giving the enthusiastic Mumbaikar supporters ample time to catch a local train.
From the moment captain Shreyas Iyer took over from Angkrish Raghuvanshi at the toss, the Falcons executed their strategy flawlessly until Shreyansh Rai sealed the game with the winning run off Vikram Auti’s part-time spin.
Iyer confidently opted to bowl first when the coin fell in his favor. Siddharth Raut – one of the tournament’s standout pacers – dismissed the threatening Suved Parkar, forcing the star from the Royals’ last match to edge one to Angkrish Raghuvanshi behind the stumps. Raut then accounted for left-handed Auti, putting the Blasters on the back foot as the spinners took charge.
Neither captain Akash Anand nor allrounder Dhrumil Matkar could break free from the effective control maintained by the Falcons bowlers. The fact that the Falcons allowed only nine fours and five sixes highlights the effectiveness of their bowling attack, particularly the spin unit.
A solid Powerplay was essential, and Raghuvanshi and Mulchandani delivered, with the tall Raghuvanshi taking charge. He welcomed Dhanit Raut’s pace with a six over square leg, followed by a four cut through point in the second delivery. In the next over, left-arm spinner Karsh Kothari faced two consecutive sixes.
Although Raghuvanshi got caught off the next ball while attempting a hat-trick of sixes, his rapid 14-ball 27 propelled the Falcons to 30 runs in the first three overs. Despite losing partners along the way, Mulchandani maintained his elegant touch with the bat, supported by Akash Parkar as the duo ensured a swift conclusion to the match.
Brief scores
NaMo Bandra Blasters 130 all out in 20 overs (Akash Anand 31, Dhrumil Matkar 34; Akash Parkar 3/16, Siddharth Raut 2/16) lost to SoBo Mumbai Falcons 131/5, 14.4 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 27, Ishan Mulchandani 52*, Akash Parkar 32; Sagar Chhabria 2/33) by 6 wickets.
