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The Maharashtra Premier League witnessed a double-header on Wednesday, June 12. While Kolhapur Tuskers faced Puneri Bappa in the 19th match, the Ratnagiri Jets took on the Raigad Royals in the 20th. Both games were played at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.
Kolhapur Tuskers outclassed the Puneri Bappa with their batting prowess to secure their third consecutive win of the season. On the other hand, Puneri Bappa are still struggling to find their rhythm.
Ratnagiri Jets remain atop the points table, winning five games of their seven encounters and holding a net run rate (NRR) of +1.102. Eagle Nashik take the second position with eight points, having an NRR of -0.619. Chhatrapati Sambhaji Kings stick on to the third position, winning three matches from six with an NRR of +0.465.
The fourth position is taken up by the Kolhapur Tuskers after their third win and have an NRR of -0.249. The fifth and sixth spots are occupied by Raigad Royals and Puneri Bappa with an NRR of -0.269 and -0.554, respectively.
The third consecutive win for Rahul Tripathi’s Kolhapur Tuskers
The first encounter of the day saw Kolhapur Tuskers facing Puneri Bappa, who won the toss and chose to bat first. Puneri Bappa posted 135 runs for the loss of eight wickets. Rohan Damle played a sensible knock with wickets falling, scoring 38 runs off 41 balls, while Suraj Shinde smashed 35 runs off just 16 balls.
Shreyash Chavan was the pick of the Tuskers bowlers, taking five wickets for just 18 runs in his four overs. He was also awarded the Man of the Match award for his best figures in a T20 game.
In response, the Kolhapuri batters were unstoppable and chased the target in 14.2 overs with eight wickets in hand. The 77-run second-wicket partnership between Ankit Bawne and Rahul Tripathi sealed the game. Bawne was the top scorer with 70 runs off 54 balls. He was ably supported by Tripathi's 21-ball 42-run knock.
In the second encounter, the table-top team Ratnagiri Jets faced off against the Raigad Royals. Winning the toss, Raigad chose to bowl first, a strategic decision that yielded favorable results as they managed to restrict the Jets to 138 runs.
The partnership between Divyang Hinganekar and Dhiraj Phatangare stood out as the sole substantial one amidst the struggles of the other batters to make significant contributions. Manoj Ingale and Tanay Sanghvi took three wickets each.
In reply, Raigad were struggling to score, with the wicket breaking down at regular intervals. Vicky Ostwal was the only batter to score a 50 in the entire match and gave hope to the team, but it came in a losing cause as the Raigads lost by 12 runs.
