All-rounder Shivam claims fifer and scores 47 to guide Shivaji Park Lions to a seven-wicket win over Triumph Knights in thrilling encounter at Wankhede
Shivaji Park Lions' Shivam Dubey bowls during the match against Triumph Knights at the Wankhede yesterday. Pics/Suresh Karkera
Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dubey, who went unsold during the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, dished out a fine show with bat and ball, to guide Shivaji Park Lions to a seven-wicket win over Triumph Knights (TK) in the T20 Mumbai League at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday. Dubey claimed the tournament's first five-wicket haul and scored an unbeaten 23-ball 47 to hand his team their maiden win of the tourney.
Put into bat, TK openers, Praful Waghela and Sumit Ghadigaonkar stitched a 70-run stand. Waghela scored 42 off 20, while Ghadigaonkar scored 36 off 26. However, when Dubey was introduced in the eighth over, the equation completely changed as he sent back both openers.
Shivaji Park Lions batsman Bravish Shetty scored 60 not out
Surya fails to capitalise
One-drop batter Suryakumar Yadav hammered 35 off 15 with five boundaries and two sixes, but the TK skipper failed to pass the Dubey test and was trapped leg before wicket. Dubey also sent Atif Attarwala (1) and Kalpesh Sawant (1) in quick succession to complete his fifer in his four-over spell. Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (2-38) offered good support to Dubey.
The wily all-rounder, 24, made his Ranji Trophy debut with impressive figures of five for 98 during the quarter-final against Karnataka in Nagpur last December. Asked about which performance he would rate higher, Dubey said: "I will always rate my Ranji Trophy performance much higher. I claimed five wickets on debut and also scored runs."
Though a 153-run target seemed easy to chase, the Lions were shaky at the start. They lost Sufiyan Shaikh (2) and Hardik Tamore (15) in the ninth over and skipper Siddhesh Lad (30) in the 13th.
Dubey shines with the bat
However, left-handed opener Bravish Shetty's unbeaten 51-ball 60 and Dubey's quickfire 47, steered the ship to safety. The duo put on 63 in 33 balls for the fifth wicket to help their side to victory with five balls to spare.
Dubey, who scored 71 off 91 balls against Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy game, explained how he and Shetty managed the situation in the middle. "Bravish told me that he will take chances and I decided to play according to the merit of the ball, but they bowled bad deliveries and we capitalised," he said.
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