T20 Mumbai, Day 10: Heartbreak for Eagle Thane Strikers as Aakash Tigers MWS clinch the semis spot

The league stage of the 2019 edition of T20 Mumbai came to an end and all the four semi-finalists were decided. But, things didn't go down simply as Eagle Thane Strikers chased 150 in just 11.2 overs to move to the second place in Group A and gave themselves some hope for a semi-final spot.

Playing for a chance to keep their hopes alive, Strikers won the toss in the first game of the day against NaMo Bandra Blasters and thanks to their bowlers, Strikers restricted Shreyas Iyer and co. for just 148/7 in 20 overs. The Strikers needed to chase the total down in less than 12 overs to stand a chance to qualify for the semis. Unfortunately, the Strikers, in the absence of Sarfaraz Khan, got to a worst possible start as Karsh Kothari dismissed opener Jaideep Pardeshi in the first over.

Skipper Aditya Tare and Alpesh Ramjani steadied the ship and put on 49 in five overs before Ramjani was dismissed for 29 leaving Rakesh Prabhu to join Tare in the middle. That's when the game started tilting towards Strikers as Rakesh and Tare sent all the bowlers on a leather hunt. Both the batsmen reached their respective fifties and by the time Tare got out for 50 off 27 balls, Strikers needed nine runs in just seven balls to give themselves a chance to make it to the semis. Rakesh safely took his team home in the next three balls and remained unbeaten 21-ball 64 with the help of one four and eight sixes.

Brief scores: NaMo Baroda Blasters 148/7 in 20 overs (Shirdeep Mangela 42, Sujit Nayak 26*, Kruthik Hanagavadi) lost to Eagle Thane Strikers 150/2 in 11.2 overs (Rakesh Prabhu 64*, Aditya Tare 50, Aditya Dhumal 2/29) by seven wickets.

Unfortunately, Strikers' hopes were dashed in the next four hours as Aakash Tigers MWS won the last league game against Shivaji Park Lions by seven wickets to finish second on Group A and make it to the semis.

Put into bat, Shivaji Park Lions, without their regular skipper Siddesh Lad, hardly got going as they managed to crawl their way to 127/6 in 20 overs, largely thanks to Nikhil Patil's 25-ball 37. For the Tigers, Salman Khan finished with 2/36 while Dhawal Kulkarni, Shams Mulani and Arjun Tendulkar ended up with a wicket apiece.

Chasing 128 to win, Tigers lost Arjun Tendulkar, Siddarth Akre and D Subramanian and were reduced to 42/3 in 7.3 overs. Veteran Bhavin Thakkar kept things moving with an unbeaten 49-ball 65 while Shams Mulani scored a fluent 40 off 32 balls and took their team home safely.

Brief scores: Shivaji Park Lions 127/6 in 20 overs (Nikhil Patil 37, Salman Khan 2/36, Shams Mulani 1/10) lost to Aakash Tigers MWS 131/3 in 17.3 overs (Bhavin Thakkar 65*, Shams Mulani 40*) by seven wickets.

Catch the T20 Mumbai action live on Star Sports 2/2HD/3 at 7:30 PM, and on Hotstar.