Riding on opener Varun Lavande (38-ball 57, 5x4, 3x6), one-drop Anish Chaudhery (32-ball 37) and No. 5 Sairaj Patil (22-ball 47 not out, 3x4, 4x6), Eagle Thane Strikers (ETS) outclassed Triumph Knights Mumbai North East (TKMNE) by five wickets in their opening T20 Mumbai League game at the DY Patil Stadium on Wednesday.

Scores level at half-way stage

Chasing 180 (TKMNE posted 179-7), around the half-way mark the Thane outfit’s score was the same as that of TKMKNE, 89-1, but later Sairaj started dominating and his unbeaten knock studded with huge sixes did the trick in the end. Needing 21off the last 12 balls, Sairaj dispatched pacer Akash Pawar (1-58) for four through point region and then smashed the next delivery for a maximum over the bowler’s head. He finished with a huge six over mid-wicket fence to reduce the equation to three runs needed off the last six balls. 

TKMNE skipper Suryakumar Yadav introduced himself to the attack to defend those three runs, but left-hander Vinay Kunwar (9 not out) hammered a boundary to finish the match. Pacer Minad Manjrekar claimed 2-23 for the losing team.