Advertisement
Madhya Pradesh made it to the final of the (SMAT) Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 by defeating Delhi on the basis of Rajat Patidar’s unbeaten half-century. In IPL 2024, Rajat Patidar scored 395 runs in 15 matches for Royal Challengers Bangalore. In return, the franchise has retained him for Rs 11 crore.
Madhya Pradesh entered the final for the first time in 13 years by defeating former champions Delhi by seven wickets in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 match on Friday night. Madhya Pradesh captain Rajat Patidar’s unbeaten half-century played an important role in this victory. Batting first, Delhi scored only 146 runs. In reply, Madhya Pradesh achieved the target 32 balls earlier.
Captaincy innings of Rajat Patidar in SMAT semi-finals
Advertisement
Madhya Pradesh bowlers proved their decision to bowl first after winning the toss right and restricted Delhi to a paltry 146 for five. All-rounder Venkatesh Iyer took two wickets for 12 runs. After this, the target was achieved by losing three wickets in just 15.4 overs on the basis of captain Patidar’s unbeaten innings of 66 runs in 29 balls. Patidar hit four fours and six sixes in his innings.
Madhya Pradesh will face Mumbai in the SMAT final
Rajat Patidar closed the chances of a comeback for Delhi by making an unbroken partnership of 106 runs in 57 balls for the fourth wicket with Harpreet Singh Bhatia (46 not out). Harpreet, who hit the winning six off Suyash Sharma, hit four fours and two sixes in his unbeaten innings. Opener Harsh Gawli also contributed 30 runs for Madhya Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh, which was the runner-up in 2011, will face Mumbai in the final to be played on Sunday.
Delhi performed shamefully
Yash Dhul (11) and Priyansh Arya (29) gave Delhi a solid start with a partnership of 38 runs in 33 balls. However, both of them lost their wickets against Tripuresh Singh (one wicket for 18 runs) and Kumar Karthikeya (one wicket for 23 runs) respectively, due to which the team’s score became 54 runs for two wickets in nine overs.
Iyer dismissed captain Ayush Badoni (19) and Himmat Singh (15) within three balls, due to which Delhi’s score became 79 runs for five wickets. After this, Anuj Rawat scored an unbeaten 33 runs with the help of three fours and a six in a 24-ball innings, while Mayank Rawat contributed 24 runs in 21 balls to take Delhi to 146 runs.
Ishant Sharma had raised hopes
To defend the small target, Delhi was expecting a dream performance from the bowlers and the experienced Ishant Sharma raised the team’s hopes by dismissing Arpit Gaud (0) on the very first ball of the innings and Subhranshu Senapati (7) in the third over.
After three overs, Madhya Pradesh was struggling at 20 runs for two wickets, but Gawli troubled the Delhi bowlers with an innings of four fours and a six. After his dismissal, Patidar and Harpreet did not give any chance to Delhi.
