Amit Patil and Vishal Bhilare both hit scintillating half centuries to guide Sinhagad Supremos to their fifth consecutive win in the Maharashtra Premier League, defeating the Raigad Royals by 7 wickets at the Deccan Gymkhana ground here on Friday. While Patil scored 54 off 42 balls, Bhilare got 52 off 37 deliveries.

Sinhagad began their chase of the target of 161, which Raigad had set them, on a weak note. Both openers, Ganesh Gaikwad and Vishant More were dismissed cheaply for 12 and 8 respectively. After a short partnership with Varun Deshpande, who was dismissed for 16, Patil and Bhilare came together at the crease and began the job of getting the Supremos back on track.

Apart from the big hits, the duo also ran the singles and doubles with equal determination. They were aided in this by some shoddy work by the Raigad fielders. At least two sitters were dropped by the Raigad fielders in the deep. None of the Raigad bowlers were able to make an impact, with S Patel and N Salekar taking one wicket each.

Another important highlight of the day was Supremos bowler Mudassar Mulla becoming the 1st player to take a hattrick in the MPL. Mulla dismissed Sangram Atitkar, Sunil Patel, and Nitish Salekar, who formed the tail of the raigad batting line-up, to restrict them to 160. He finally ended up with figures of 5 for 18.

Opener Harshad Khadiwale top-scored for Raigad with 46. In another match of the day played at the same venue, Panhala Panthers defeated Shivneri Lions by 7 wickets.

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