Suryakumar Yadav’s 48 (35) trumped Rajat Patidar’s valiant one-man show of 81 (40) in the first innings.
Shreyas Iyer-led Mumbai secured a massive five-wicket win over Rajat Patidar’s Madhya Pradesh to win the 2024 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) title on Sunday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
This was the side’s second SMAT win as they made it two titles in three years in India’s premier domestic T20 competition. Patidar’s 81 (40) in the first innings went in vain as India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav smacked a 35-ball 48 followed by Suryansh Shedge’s 36 (15) to chase the 175-run target in 17.5 overs.
Madhya Pradesh were put to bat and were shocked early by Shardul Thakur, who took out openers Arpit Gaud and Harsh Gawali in the second over of the innings. Subhranshu Senapati’s counter-attack didn’t last too long and even though Patidar dug deep, he couldn’t find much support from Venkatesh Iyer (17 off 9) and the rest of the lower-order.
Shreyas, as he did throughout IPL 2024, rotated his bowlers well, with everyone who bowled at least three overs coming back with a wicket, including Shivam Dube, who took out Senapati, and bowled with an excellent economy rate of 6.8.
Only off-spinner Tanush Kotian bowled two overs, which can’t be faulted given how sweetly Patidar was hitting it at one end. The Madhya Pradesh skipper remained unbeaten with six fours and six sixes to his name.
In the second innings, Mumbai came out brimming with confidence and with one foot firmly on the gas. Prithvi Shaw hit a six against Tripuresh Singh and got out the next ball, with the first innings of this essay coming in the second innings too.
The young 22-year-old pacer came from the other end and got Shreyas a ball after getting smacked for six again. This is where Suryakumar and Rahane stepped in for a match-steadying partnership. They added 52 runs for the third wicket in 41 balls and hit elegant boundaries all around the small park.
Madhya Pradesh showed tenacity between overs 12 and 15. Venkatesh Iyer prized out his new KKR teammate Ajinkya Rahane against the run of play, Kumar Kartikeya didn’t let Shivam Dube have a say with the bat and Shivam Shukla made Suryakumar top-edge a sweep to short fine leg.
But, before Patidar and Co. could have started thinking about taking a breather and considering strategy, Shedge carted Kartikeya for two fours and Ankolkar matched it with a six on the last ball the equation back to 28 runs off 24 balls.
Shedge, brimming with confidence, put the seal on it with two sixes against Venkatesh and a six and a four against Tripuresh. With the scores level, Ankolekar tonked Tripuresh straight down the ground to allow the celebrations to begin in the otherwise tense Mumbai dressing room.
Brief scores: Madhya Pradesh: 174/8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 81*, Subhranshu Senapati 23; Shardul Thakur 2/41, Royston Dias 2/32) lost by 5 wickets to Mumbai: 180/5 in 17.5 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 48, Ajinkya Rahane 37, Suryansh Shedge 36*; Tripuresh Singh 2/34).
