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For the second week in a row, a team captained by Shreyas Iyer fell short in a T20 final.
At the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, MSC Maratha Royals chased down SoBo Mumbai Falcons’ 157 for four to clinch the T20 Mumbai League title, winning by five wickets with four balls to spare.
Chinmay Sutar, the Royals’ Impact Player, anchored the innings with a steady 53 off 49 balls, while Awais Khan’s brisk 38 from 24 deliveries injected momentum into the chase. The two added 75 runs in nine overs after Sutar had an early reprieve — dropped on 15 by wicketkeeper Angkrish Raghuvanshi.
While Sutar rotated strike, Awais attacked the spinners with clean sweeps and calculated lofts. Akash Parkar’s pace was used against him in the 16th over, and although both set batters fell to Kartik Mishra in the penultimate over, veteran Rohan Raje sealed the win with two composed strokes in the final over.
Earlier, the Royals opted to bowl after Siddhesh Lad won the toss. The Falcons laboured to 60 for three in 10 overs. Shreyas Iyer, looking to break the shackles, fell for 12 trying a reverse sweep.
Harsh Aghav (45* off 28) and Mayuresh Tandel (50* off 32) then stitched together a late surge, adding 85 off 49 balls. Their finish pushed the total past 150 — but not far enough.
The Royals kept their nerve. Iyer’s team was left heartbroken again.
Brief scores
SoBo Mumbai Falcons 157 for four in 20 overs (Mayuresh Tandel 50 n.o., Harsh Aghav 45 n.o.; Vaibhav Mali 2/32) lost to MSC Maratha Royals 158 for five in 19.2 overs (Chinmay Sutar 53, Awais Khan 38) by six wickets.
