CCL 2024: Mumbai Heroes make quick work of Punjab De Sher, secure top 4 spot for now

A win against Punjab De Sher in their last group stage match was imperative for the Mumbai Heroes to keep their hopes of making it to play-off stage alive. And win they did in splendid fashion, with 6 overs and 10 wickets to spare, which pushed up their net run rate and placed the Heroes at third spot on the points table. This, however, is not an assured berth in the play-offs yet. The Heroes’ chance of making it to next week’s matches depends on how the two encounters on March 10 play out.

Having won the toss, team Punjab chose to bat first, perhaps buoyed by the fact that this season of the tournament has been favourable to those batting first. A modest score of 101 was put on the board, which was a cakewalk for the Heroes, who then went ahead and got a head-start with a 23-run lead over their opponents. Mayur gave team Punjab an early boost, which allowed them to cover the deficit in the second over.

Unfortunately for Sonu Sood’s team, they were not able to live up to that initial momentum, and crumbled under the tight line of bowling and fielding that the Heroes unleashed. They folded at 97 for the loss of 9, which meant that the Heroes needed all of 75 runs to win. With not many runs to chase, the best way to improve their net run rate and up their chances of continuing in the tournament, the Heroes needed to get to this target fast. And they did, in all of 3.3 overs and losing no wickets in the process.

The Mumbai Heroes are now behind the Bengal Tigers on the points table, after the latter posted a stupendous victory against the Bhojpuri Dabanggs earlier in the day. The Heroes, who were not in the top 4 at the start of play, will want to hold on to their current position, for which, it is imperative that the Karnataka Bulldozers and the Chennai Rhinos win their respective matches on March 10.

The CCL follows the IPL format of play-offs and will have three matches before the finale, instead of the more normal two semi-finals model. It’s a format that is favourable to the team that loses the first qualifier, as it gets another shot at the finale, while the winner of the eliminator has to prove its eligibility to play in the final with one more match against the loser of qualifier 1. The qualifiers and eliminator matches will be played on March 15 and 16, with the grand finale on March 17.