CCL 2024: Mumbai Heroes are a class act as they defeat Kerala Strikers in inaugural match

The inaugural match of the milestone 10th edition of the Celebrity Cricket League played out between the Riteish Deshmukh-led Mumbai Heroes and the Kerala Strikers at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. While it did seem that the Kerala Strikers had an edge over the competition after the first round of 10 overs, the Mumbai Heroes bounced back and outplayed them both in the batting and bowling departments, winning the first match of the tournament.

The Mumbai Heroes won the toss and elected to bat first and got to 76 for 7 wickets in their first set of 10 overs. The total was, of course, greatly aided by the fact that the Kerala Strikers gave away 15 extras, 4 of which came in the penultimate over by Anoop.

Chasing this total, the Kerala Strikers opened their innings and got off to a slow start, making only 15 in the first 3 overs. They eventually got to 84/5 in their designated 10 overs, aided greatly by a spirited 21 of only 8 balls by Vivek Gopan. This gives the Kerala Strikers an 8-run leading going into the second innings. On their part, the Mumbai Heroes put on a far more disciplined and tight bowling performance, giving away only 3 extras.

In their second innings, the Mumbai Heroes were more focused on ensuring that they not only got past the deficit in no time, but that they also set a formidable target for the Kerala Strikers to chase. Sharad Kelkar’s 35 of only 18 balls, which included several hits to the boundary, went a long way in helping the team get to a final score of 100/6. The score also included Navdeep’s 37 of 20 balls, 19 of which came of the last over.

The team, which, at one seemed to be cruising smoothly and enroute a 3- figure total before Sharad’s wicket, then lost 3 more wickets in quick succession, all in the same over by Benny and it looked like they were faltering at a crucial juncture. But Navdeep didn’t lose his nerve and ensured that the Mumbai Heroes got to 100 runs after all, setting a target of 93 runs for victory for the Kerala Strikers.

Chasing 93 for victory, the Kerala Strikers lost first innings star Vivek for a duck on the first ball of the innings, and only 2 balls later, his replacement Sivaram was run out and returned to the dug-out. Siddharth Menon tried valiantly to stabilize the innings, but he also ran out steam after a while. Arjun's valiant effort that brought the team team to a tantalizingly close 12 runs of 3 balls requirement came to nought eventually and the team ended its innings.

CCL 2024 is being live streamed on JioCinema, which will have all 20 matches with Hindi commentary. Doordarshan will telecast the first 11 matches, while Doordarshan Sports takes over for the final 9. Sony Ten 5 will also telecast the last 9 matches. There are language specific telecast partners as well with Star Network channels bringing select matches to audiences.

Day 2 of CCL 2024 will have two matches, with the first being a replay of the 2023 finale, what with the defending champions Telugu Warriors taking on the runner-up Bhojpuri Dabanggs. This match will begin at 2 pm (IST), while the second one, between the Kerala Strikers and the Bengal Tigers.