Riding on opener Shoaib Shaikh's (62) half century and an all-round bowling display, Mumbai secured a narrow seven-run win over Maharashtra in the West Zone leg of Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 Trophy at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here today.
Chasing 155, Rohit Motwani fell to Shardul Thakur (2 for 18) in the second over and Siddhesh Lad (2 for 17) broke through Swapnil Gugale's defences in the fourth as Mumbai reduced Maharashtra to 24 for 2.
Ankit Bawne (36 off 30 balls) got the Maharashtra innings back on track and Rahul Tripathi hit 47 off 29 balls as the middle order set up a tight finish.
Twenty-one runs were required off 14 balls when leg-spinner Pravin Tambe (2 for 32) swung the match decisively in Mumbai's favour by getting rid of Tripathi.
Earlier, put into bat, Mumbai had surged to 61 for no loss in the eighth over with Shoaib Shaikh (62) at the helm. They were well placed for a late blitz -- over 100 on the board and only two wickets down in the 17th over.
But Shaikh and Abhishek Nayar (20) were dismissed in the space of two balls and the score then slipped from 127 for 3 to 144 for 7 as Domnic Joseph (2 for 30) and Shrikant Mundhe (2 for 30) brought Maharashtra back into the game.
