Punjab Vs Maharashtra: Maharashtra Proceeds Further
The reliable batting by Maharashtra presented poise while in the game. Arshin Kulkarni, with a fine 107 off 137 balls, anchored the innings with the perfect blend of caution and aggression. More than just runs, the century gave a jump start for Maharashtra to climb him up to a buoyant platform for its middle order. Nikhil Naik, with a couple of boundaries in the last over, scored an explosive 52 off 29 balls to flourish late in the innings, ensuring a target of 275 for 6 in 50 overs. Satyajeet Bachhav’s unbroken 20 off 15 then lent an icing on the cake to make the score sturdy as well as challenging.
A textbook display of controlled batting by Maharashtra saw Arshin Kulkarni play a workmanlike innings, scoring 107 runs off 137 deliveries. The innings was given valuable impetus by Nikhil Naik, who flashed to a quick-fire 52 off only 29 balls. This power-packed partnership pushed Maharashtra to an imposing total of 275 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in 50 overs.
Punjab started their innings with a comb mix of promise and blunders. The innings began on a promising note with Prabhsimran Singh and Abhishek Sharma trying to set a solid base, but both fell to Mukesh Choudhary when he was going good for Maharashtra with figures of 3/44. Prabhsimran scored 14 off 17 balls while Abhishek hit a fiery 19 off 16 balls before he was caught off a substitute, Divyang Hinganekar.
Also Read: Matt Short Lead Adelaide Strikers To A Humongous Total In BBL
There was a further slowdown after Anmolpreet Singh sought to hold the innings with a painstaking 48 in 77 balls. Trouble started with his dismissal. Nehal Wadhera managed quick 6 while Ramandeep Singh could not trouble the scorer. The two other scores, Anmol Malhotra’s 10 and Naman Dhir’s 12, were hardly worth mention in the light of climbing the required run rate.
Lower order put some resistance. Sanvir Singh managed to score 24 runs off 28 balls, while Arshdeep Singh stole the show with his batting performance of 49 runs off 39 balls. He smashed 3 boundaries and hit 3 sixes in difficult circumstances. But it never came close. The Punjab team wrapped up for 205, being beaten by 70 runs.
Mukesh Choudhary was the main architect of Punjab’s doom, shattering its hopes with a haul three wickets for Maharashtra. Rajneesh Gurbani, Arshin Kulkarni, Pradeep Dadhe, Azim Kazi, and Satyajeet Bachhav all supported Choudhary with some critical wickets, ensuring that Punjab’s batsmen never got into their stride.
