Sumeet Dhekale played yet another captain’s knock to bail Chennai Singams out against Tiigers of Kolkata in the Singams’ penultimate league match of the Indian Street Premier League (ISPL) Season 2 at the Dadoji Konddev Stadium in Thane on Saturday.

Riding on Dhekale’s quickfire 31 (17b, 5x4), Singams recovered from a precarious 24 for four to finish its essay at 65 for seven in its stipulated 10 overs. The Tiigers of Kolkata – who continued to remain at the bottom of the points table – then chased down the target in six overs, losing one wicket.

Dhekale, the stylish southpaw, though gave a lesson of how raw power and aerial hitting is not the be-all and end-all to succeed in cricket, especially tennis-ball cricket, as a batter. When the veteran batter – also a regular on Mumbai’s maidan cricket circles – took guard in the fifth over, Singams were down to 24 for four.

Shivam Kumar was the Kolkata outfit’s star performer, having picked three wickets in the second over of the match.

Dhekale knew he could not afford to take too many risks. As a result, the captain preferred to look for gaps through the field rather than clearing the boundary ropes. His first four came in the seventh over, off Vivek Mohanan, which was the first boundary since Ketan Mhatre’s twin blows in the opening over.

When Shivam returned into the attack in the last over over, Dhekale took charge and smashed consecutive fours to help the Singams cross the 60-run mark. However, he was unfortunately run-out off the next ball while trying to race back to his crease while stealing a second run.

In a bid to defend a relatively moderate target of 66, Anurag Sarshar gave away just five runs in the first over and Jignesh Patel then dismissed Sarfraz Khan in the next over to offer Singams a ray of hope.

But Fardeen Kazi and Thomas Dias then finished the game off, especially by going after Rahul Sawant’s left-arm spin in the sixth over. The left-arm spinner was chosen for the 50-50 over and the Kolkata batters hammered three fours and a six, resulting in the team being awarded nine bonus points.

The Singams will face table-toppers Majhi Mumbai in a must-win match on Sunday.

Brief sores: Chennai Singams 65/7 in 10 overs (Sumeet Dhekale 31) lost to Tiigers of Kolkata 68/1 in 6 overs (Thomas Dias 30 not out, Fardeen Kazi 23 not out; Jignesh Patel 1/18).