A solid bowling performance from Mohammad Zeeshan (3/13) and a swashbuckling cameo from opener Ketan Mhatre helped the Chennai Singams thump second-placed Falcon Risers Hyderabad in the Indian Street Premier League (ISPL) Season 2 being played at the Dadoji Kondadev Stadium, Thane on Tuesday.

Having suffered two back-to-back losses, Singams required a big win to stay in the title hunt and they delivered when it mattered the most with a resounding seven wickets win with 17 balls to spare.

Singams opted to bowl after winning the toss and had an ideal start, picking two wickets in the very first over. The Hyderabad outfit tried to rebuild but Zeeshan sent back Shreyash Kadam and Sambhaji Patil in the 50-50 over to restrict them to 37 for 7 after the seventh over.

Falcon Risers, who had beaten Singams in their opening match, could only manage to score 64 for 9 in their stipulated 10 overs.

Chasing a modest target, Mhatre was in no mood to concede any advantage to their opponents as he smashed 35 runs in just 12 balls, hitting two fours and four sixes. Singams’ scoring rate dropped soon after Mhatre’s departure, with the team score at 49, but they never looked under any kind of pressure.

Mansoor KL did not concede a single run in the fourth over but Sarkar and Singams captain Sumeet Dhekale were not willing to take any risks and focused on crossing the line without any hiccups.

Irfan Umair sent back Sarkar and Dhekale in the seventh over but Prashant Gharat found the boundary on the first ball of the eighth to help his team consolidate their third spot in the overall standing with their third win in six matches.

Brief scores

Falcon Risers Hyderabad - 64/9 in 10 overs (Liton Sarkar 18, Vishwajit Thakur 11; Mohammad Zeeshan 3/13) lost to Chennai Singams - 67 for 3 in 7.1 overs (Ketan Mhatre 35, Jagannath Sarkar 23; Irfan Umair 3/16).