All-round Mumbai go past MP by 5 wickets to win tournament in style
Mumbai leaned on their collective batting strength to subdue a spirited Madhya Pradesh by five wickets to clinch the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Bengaluru on Sunday.
On a slightly tacky pitch, Mumbai were stretched on more than one occasion during the chase of 175, a target MP built around skipper Rajat Patidar's fluent unbeaten 81, but they eventually got across the finish line with Atharva Ankolekar bringing up the winning runs with a six as Mumbai made 180 for five in 17.5 overs.
This was Mumbai's second SMAT title after winning it for the first time in 2022, while MP's wait for a maiden trophy prolonged to another season.
After a brief period of lull, Suryakumar Yadav (48, 35b, 4x4, 3x6) reactivated his run-making ways and added 52 runs for the third wicket with Ajinkya Rahane (37, 30b, 4x4).
It helped Mumbai to recover from the early dismissals of Prithvi Shaw and skipper Shreyas Iyer, both of them falling to rather causal shots.
Just when it seemed that the two veteran batters would carry Mumbai home, Rahane slashed Venkatesh Iyer straight into the hands of Rahul Batham at deep.
Suryakumar followed soon, top-edging off-spinner Shivam Shukla to Avesh Khan at short fine leg.
At 129 for five in 14.4 overs, Mumbai needed 46 runs but any worries were soon eased by the big-hitting Suryansh Shedge (36 not out, 15b, 3x4, 3x6) and Atharva Ankolekar (16 not out, 6b, 2x6) who knocked off the remaining runs without much fuss in a little over three overs.
Earlier, Patidar shone brightly while hammering his fifth fifty of this tournament.
The right-hander, who was retained by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, entertained an over 15,000-crowd, who backed him and MP to the hilt, with twinkling shot-making.
In fact, Patidar singlehandedly held the MP innings together as the next highest was a 23 by Shubhranshu Senapati.
Madhya Pradesh had made a rather sedate start to their innings after losing openers Arpit Gaud (3) and Harsh Gawli (2).
They reached 38 for two in the Power Play, which later transpired to 114 for five in 15 overs.
However, Patidar found an able ally in Batham (19, 14b) as they added 56 runs for the sixth wicket as MP added 60 runs in the last five overs.
Patidar, a clean-striker of the ball upped the level of his play, as indicated by a stunning walk-across-the-line six off pacer Shardul Thakur.
But individual brilliance was not enough to stop the Mumbai juggernaut on the night.
Brief scores: Madhya Pradesh: 174/8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 81 not out, Subhranshu Senapati 23; Shardul Thakur 2/41, Royston Dias 2/32) lost to Mumbai: 180/5 in 17.5 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 48, Ajinkya Rahane 37, Suryansh Shedge 36 not out; Tripuresh Singh 2/34) by 5 wickets.
