Mahadev Strikers sink Titans to storm Swaminarayan Pro20 tournament final

Mahadev Strikers are through to the Swaminarayan Pro20 tournament final after completing a double over Hari Om Titans with a resounding 81 runs victory in the first semi-finals on Thursday.

Strikers was the only team that defeated the impressive Titans in the first round of the six-team tournament when they won the opening match on October 29 by three runs.

The matches are held at night at the Shree Cutchi Leva Patel ground in Nairobi.

With four wins from five matches, Titans went into the semi-finals as the top team with eight points.

On the other hand, Strikers progressed as the fourth best team with six points, having suffered two defeats in the first round.

Strikers lost to Play Master Warriors and Mombasa Cement Giants by eight wickets and 23 runs respectively.

In the semi-finals, Strikers captain Rakep Patel won the toss and elected to bat first, setting a target of 206 runs for the loss of six wickets in 20 overs of their innings.

With Titans losing wickets quickly, their chase stopped at 125 runs all-out in 17.5 overs of their innings. Strikers’ opener Chirag Sisodia bagged the man-of-the-match gong after top scoring with 63 runs from 36 balls with nine fours and two sixes.

He also stumped Titans' Gerard Mwendwa off Rikeshi Hirani bowling. Sisodia was dismissed in the ninth over after being caught by Mitesh Sanghani off Jignesh Hirani bowling.

Strikers began the match slowly after Sisodia’s opening partner Pushkar Shrma was bowled-out in the second over by Mwendwa.

Thisara Perera was also impressive for Strikers, hitting 51 runs off 24 balls including five fours and three sixes.

Titans started their innings worse than Strikers as their opener Narendra Kalyan spent less than an over on the crease after being dismissed for a duck by AS Patel.

Less than two overs later, Dhyey Patel followed his opening partner Kalyan to the showers after being caught by Krishna Katukala off Lucas Oluoch bowling.

The trend continued with Indian Aezaz Kothariya being Titans' top scorer with 43 runs from 27 balls with four sevens and a six.

Kothariya, who has been one of Titans' outstanding players in the tournament, was dismissed in the seventh over after being caught by Perera off Vraj Patel’s delivery.

In the second semi-final, Mafuko Mavericks will clash with Giants on Friday at the same venue.

The two teams also progressed to the semi-finals on six points each, with Mavericks crushing Giants by 98 runs in the preliminary round.

The finals will be held on Saturday at the same venue.