Meghalaya ended Mumbai’s winning streak after they defeated the domestic giants by six wickets in the league match of Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy here on Friday.
After restricting the hosts to a below-par 157/6 at Wankhede Stadium, Meghalaya rode on half centuries by Ravi Bhamidipati (61 not out) and Sanjay Yadav (55) to chase the target with four balls to spare, despite a poor start.
This is Mumbai’s first loss in the tournament and the result is also seen as a huge upset in cricketing circles.
Opting to bat first, Mumbai failed to capitalise on the flying start provided by openers Jay Bista (44 off 30 balls, 6x4, 1x6) and Aditya Tare (27 off 22 balls, 4x4), who added 73 runs for the first wicket.
But medium pacer Swarajeet Das (2-31) pegged back the hosts by dismissing both the openers in the ninth over.
One-down Shreyas Iyer (15), skipper Suryakumar Yadav (28), Siddhesh Lad (22) and last game’s hero Shubham Ranjane (8) failed to convert their starts, as Meghalaya bowlers, led by pacer Abhay Negi (2-41), made an impressive comeback.
Meghalaya started the chase on a poor note, as they lost their skipper Raj Biswa (0) in the first over. Soon, they were reeling at 41-3, with another opener Punit Bisht (23) and Swarajeet Das (0) back in the hut.
But Bhamidipati and Yadav had other plans, as their 92-run for the fourth wicket not only rebuilt the Meghalaya innings, but also took the game away from Mumbai.
Bhamidipati hit eight boundaries in his unbeaten 45 balls knock, while Yadav had six fours and two other hits over the fence.
Mumbai’s key spinner Shams Mulani dismissed Yadav in the 16th over, but it was too little and too late.
Bhamidipati in company of Abhay Negi (10 not out) took the visitors home, leaving Mumbai stunned.
In the first game at Wankhede stadium, Haryana defeated Mizoram by seven wickets, as they chased the 96-run target in 9.4 overs.
Earlier, in the first game at Bandra-Kurla Complex, Bengal got better of their opponents Madhya Pradesh by six wickets, thanks to an unbeaten 65 by opener Shreevats Goswami.
In the second game at BKC, Pondicherry defeated Assam by six wickets.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai 157/6 (Jay Bista 44, Suryakumar Yadav 28; Swarajeet Das 2-31) lost to Meghalaya 164/4 (Ravi Bhamidipati 61 not out, Sanjay Yadav 55; Shardul Thakur 2-34) by six wickets.
At Wankhede: Mizoram 95/5 (Pawan Prasad 32, Taruwar Kohli 26, Yuzvendra Chahal 1-17) lost to Haryana 97/3 (Chaitanya Bishnoi 42 not out, Harshal Patel 39; Lal Hruai Zela 3-26) by seven wickets.
At BKC: Madhya Pradesh 112 all out (Rajat Patidar 43, Rishabh Chouhan 20; Akash Deep 3-13, Shahbaz Ahamad 3-22) lost to Bengal 114/4 (Shreevats Goswami 65 not out, Agniv Pan 16 not out; Ishwar Pandey 2-20) by six wickets.
At BKC: Assam 102 all out (Rajjakuddin Ahmed 31, Abdul Mazid 30, R Vinay Kumar 4/4) lost to Pondicherry 106/4 (Paras Dogra 38 not out, Anand Subramanian 32; Rajjakuddin Ahmed 1- 15) by six wickets.
