Madhya Pradesh League: Jabalpur Royal Lions Hand Rewa Jaguars their first defeat with a good victory with 21 runs | Mint

Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) [India]June 21 (Ani): Jabalpur Royal Lions delivered a plenty of action to defeat Rewa Jaguars with 21 runs in match 16 of the Madhya Pradesh League (MPL) 2025 at Garnant Madhamro Scindia Cricket Stadium on Friday, which terminated the official MPL statement. Asked to bat first, Jabalpur had a shaky start and lost both openers early on a fiery game of Saransh Surana. The Jaguars Pacer has hit the PowerPlay twice to rattle the Lions’ top order, MPL’s statement said. However, Siddharth Patidar holds its soil and leads the rebuilding phase with a resilient 51 out of 36 balls, and mix carefully with a good aggression. Just when he looked deeper from anchor, Saransh struck again and completed an excellent four-wicket cruise and put Jabalpur under pressure. With the scoreboard that read a modest 117/6 in 16.1 overs, the Lions looked a total in the 160-170 series. But then came a beautiful late Ritik Tada and Sanjog Singh. The duo unleashed a brutal assault in the final and compiled an unbeaten 68 -run partnership. Ritik blew his way to 45 off 22 balls* at a strike rate of 204.5, while SanJog hammered a fast 36 out of 14 deliveries* at a strike rate of 257.1, which Jabalpur Royal Lions presented to a formidable 185/6. The 186 opener gave the opener of Rewa Jaguars, Prithviraj Singh Tomar, a steady start with a composed 52 out of 41 balls, but the middle order crumbled under pressure. Despite a late fight from Mukul Raghav, who remained unbeaten at 42 out of 28 balls, Rewa lacked and ended on 164/6 and conceded their first defeat of the season. The striking artist for Jabalpur with the ball was Pankaj Patel, who set the tone with 4/36 figures and earned him the player of the Match Award. After the match, Ritik Tada credited the finish on the team awareness and the reading of the pitch: “The plan was simple. We saw the wicket had moisture, and it was soft, so we initially thought 170 would be a good total. But after early wickets we revised the goal until about 160. When Ritik was asked about his approach to the fold, Ritik added: “The idea was to take time and set up, because the wicket was not easy and the ball did not arrive. After 5-6 balls I got a sense of the wicket and the bowler strategy. I kept it in mind and maintained their mistakes.” Ritik also reflected on his current focus during the tournament: “At the moment I focus more on game awareness, understand what the situation demands and responds accordingly.” The victory was a strong revival for Jabalpur Royal Lions, who remained winless in their first three games of the season. With this result, they have now achieved back-to-back victories, which achieved an important momentum as the league phase progresses. Find below the schedule for Saturday, June 21 Match 18, Bundelkhand Bulls vs. Jabalpur Royal Lions, 15:00 ISTMATCH 19, Rewa Jaguars vs Indore Pink Panthers, 19:30 IST. (Ani)