Mumbai, June 11 (IANS) Defending champions MSC Maratha Royals stormed into the final of the T20 Mumbai League 2026 with a three-wicket victory over North Mumbai Panthers in the second semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.

Tushar Deshpande starred with the ball, returning impressive figures of 4/21 to help bundle out the Ajinkya Rahane-led Panthers for 148 in their allotted 20 overs.

In reply, the Maratha Royals chased down the target with composure, thanks to a match-winning, unbeaten knock of 62 off 49 balls from Chinmay Sutar. Holding his nerve in the thrilling chase, Sutar guided the defending champions into their second successive final.

MSC Maratha Royals will now take on Arcs Andheri in the title clash on Saturday, starting at 7 PM.

Earlier in the day, skipper Shivam Dube led from the front with a match-winning unbeaten knock as Arcs Andheri stormed into the final with a five-wicket victory over Aakash Tigers Mumbai Western Suburbs in the first semi-final at the same venue.

After producing a disciplined bowling display to restrict the Tigers to 150/7, Andheri overcame a few hiccups in the chase before Dube’s late fireworks guided them home with nine balls to spare.

Chasing 151, Andheri suffered an early setback when Musheer Khan was dismissed for a duck with just one run on the board. Opener Divyaansh Sksena and Arjun Tendulkar then steadied the innings with a 41-run partnership for the second wicket. However, Shams Mulani struck twice to swing the momentum back in favour of the Tigers, first removing Tendulkar (13) before dismissing the well-set Sksena for a brisk 34 off 16 balls, an innings featuring six fours and a six.

Prasad Pawar (26) and Pragnesh Kanpillewar (18) attempted to rebuild the chase with a valuable 40-run stand for the fourth wicket. Just as Andheri looked to be taking control, Ajit Yadav delivered a crucial double blow in the 13th over, dismissing both batters and reducing Andheri to 92/5.

With the chase hanging in the balance, Dube took charge. The Andheri skipper stitched together an unbroken 59-run partnership with Gaurav Jathar (11 not out) and finished unbeaten on 45 off just 26 deliveries, smashing five sixes and a four to seal his side’s place in the final.

Opting to bat first, Tigers skipper Sarfaraz Khan provided an aggressive start with a 34-run knock off 17 balls, including six fours and a six. Opener Jay Bista added 35 off 33 deliveries, while Harsh Rane (13) and Ajit Yadav (12) chipped in with useful contributions.

However, the Tigers struggled to build substantial partnerships in the middle overs, with Saksham Parashar falling for a duck and the rest of the batting order failing to accelerate.

For Andheri, Ashutosh Ghagre was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/21, while Tendulkar, Dube, Ajay Mishra, Musheer, and Prasun Singh claimed a wicket apiece.

Brief scores:

Semifinal 2: North Mumbai Panthers 148 in 20 overs (Abhigyan Kundu 40, Anish Chaudhery 33; Tushar Deshpande 4/21) lost to MSC Maratha Royals 152/7 in 19.5 overs (Chinmay Sutar 62 not out, Ayaz Khan 32; Pravesh Pal 3/27) by 3 wickets.

Semifinal 1: Aakash Tigers MWS 150/7 in 20 overs (Jay Bista 35, Sarfaraz Khan 34; Ashutosh Ghagre 2/21) lost to Arcs Andheri 151/5 in 18.3 overs (Shivam Dube 45 not out, Divyaansh Sksena 34; Ajit Yadav 2/23, Shams Mulani 2/23) by 5 wickets.

–IANS

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