PANAJI: An excellent bowling performance by man-of-the match Mrunmay Das (4/14) proved instrumental as Naroo Panthers beat Baale Tigers by 26 runs in the Zooter Goa Super League at Panjim Gymkhana ground, here on Sunday evening. This was the second consecutive victory for the Panthers while being the first loss for the Tigers.
Naroo Panthers won the toss and batted first to post a challenging total of 160/7. In reply when Baale Tigers were just about roaring back into the contest after a disastrous start that left them reeling at 25/4 in 4.1 overs, Mrunmay broke the crucial fifth-wicket partnership by picking up the wicket of dependable Kiran Shirvoikar (34 off 24balls; 2×4, 3×6).
Kiran and Dhilan Shah (27 of 31balls, 2×4) had hauled the Tigers into a promising position by the half-way stage at 80/5 in 10.5 overs by virtue of a 55-run stand off 40 balls. The Naroo Panthers left-arm spinner then went on to pick the wickets of Dhilan, rival skipper Naresh Parsekar and Dattesh Priolkar to run through the Baale Tigers middle and lower order. Sayed Badi’s blistering 37 off 20 balls (3×4, 2×6) provided some entertainment but could not take the Tigers to the target as they were all out for 134 in 18.3 overs.
Earlier, Vishwajeet Gaonkar with run-a-ball 38 and Siddhesh Alvenkar (29) put on 46 runs for the third wicket before captain Mukhtar Kadri provided the acceleration with a strokeful 35 runs off 20 balls (6×4, 1×6) as Naroo Panthers put up a decent batting performance. Shishir Divkar played a beautiful cameo of 10-ball 23, which included five boundaries.
Baale Tigers bowlers Kiran Shirvoikar (2/22), Sayed Badi (1/19) and Tushar Narvekar (1/14) were amongst the wickets.