The Mumbai side in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024 has got the better of Andhra and qualified for the knockouts of the event after they chased down 230 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad. They were shouldered into the knockouts on the back of their former T20 captain Ajinkya Rahane’s swashbuckling knock.
Mumbai came into their last league game on the back of their four wins and the solitary defeat against Kerala and was in high need of registering another victory to confirm their qualification in the knockouts. Winning the toss, they decided to bowl first on a surface and ground, which has always been high-scoring.
The 105-run opening stand from the Andhra side inside the first ten overs of the contest put a great platform for the Ricky Bhui-led side. The wicket-keeper batter of the team and the former member of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Srikar Bharat, thumped an impressive knock of unbeaten 93 runs with the help of eight boundaries and four sixes at a strike rate of around 175.
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His opening partner, Ashwin Hebbar, has also nailed 52 runs in 29 deliveries, shouldering on seven boundaries and a couple of sixes, to send the Mumbai bowlers all around the park. The captain of Andhra extended the good job by the two opening batters and made his way to a 68-run knock in 31 deliveries at a strike rate of over 200, thanks to his seven boundaries and four sixes.
Mumbai surpasses Andhra with the highest successful SMAT run chase
They reached 229/4 in their allotted 20 overs. The all-rounder for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Shivam Dube, was smashed for 0/62 in his four overs, while the rest of the bowlers also were drilled for an economy of over ten in their quota.
Mumbai also had a fabulous start with the bat in hand, as the opening duo of Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane smashed 51 runs in four overs. The former bashed 34 runs in just 15 deliveries with the help of four boundaries and a couple of sixes at a strike rate of around 226.
The captain of the side, Shreyas Iyer, who also became the second costliest player in the IPL auction going to the Punjab Kings, having won the previous edition of the event with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), kept the same momentum going with a 25-run knock in 11 deliveries, with the help of three sixes at a strike rate of 227.27.
Suryakumar Yadav could not contribute much for Mumbai in the contest, but Dube joined the party and drilled 34 runs in 18 balls packed by three boundaries and a couple of sixes at a strike rate of 188.89. Rahane missed the century by five runs at a strike rate of over 175.
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Suyansh Shedge had a dream time in the middle as he fetched an unbeaten knock of 30 runs in eight deliveries, with the help of a couple of boundaries and three sixes at the strike rate of 375.
All of these helped the side make a successful chase of 233 runs in the SMAT with three balls to spare. The previous record of the highest successful chase was held by Pondicherry against Andhra in 2021. Baroda is the only other side to chase down a 220-plus run score, recording the feat last week in their 222-run chase against Tamil Nadu.
Mumbai now has qualified for the quarterfinals and will face Vidarbha on December 11 in Bengaluru.