Bengaluru
Thanks to Ajinkya Rahane’s brilliant inning of 98 runs and Suryansh Shej’s restrained finishing, Mumbai secured their place in the final of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024 by registering a 6-wicket win over Baroda. Rahane’s brilliant innings while chasing 159 runs laid the foundation of victory for Mumbai. The experienced batsman hit 11 fours and five sixes in his innings of 56 balls and decimated the Baroda bowling attack. He missed out on a century, but his performance ensured that Mumbai remained in control throughout the chase.
Rahane got good support from Shreyas Iyer who played a quick inning of 46 runs in 30 balls. Both of them made an important partnership of 88 runs which took Mumbai to the threshold of victory. After Iyer’s dismissal, Suryakumar Yadav got out after scoring one run and Shivam Dubey maintained the rhythm, after which Suryansh Shej won the match by hitting a six off the ball of debutant Shashwat Rawat. Mumbai achieved the target with 16 balls remaining.
Baroda’s bowlers put up a tough challenge, failing to put pressure on Mumbai’s strong batting lineup. Atit Sheth and Abhimanyu Singh Rajput took one wicket each, with Rajput dismissing Rahane at the end of the innings – a consolation wicket taking Mumbai to victory. Rahane’s brilliant innings that earned him the Player of the Match award underlined his role in Mumbai’s successful chase.
With this win, Mumbai reached the finals, where they aim to win the championship against a challenging opponent. Earlier, Baroda set a competitive target of 158/7 thanks to Shivalik Sharma’s late innings. However, Mumbai’s disciplined bowling attack led by Shez and Tanush Kotian kept them in check for most of the innings.
Baroda’s innings gained momentum in the last overs with Sharma scoring 36 runs in 24 balls and Mahesh Pithiya hitting a six on the last ball. Atit Sheth played a quick inning of 22 runs in 14 balls, which further strengthened the score. Shardul Thakur took an important wicket, but he proved costly and gave away 46 runs in his four overs. After a steady start, Baroda’s middle order faltered. Hardik Pandya was out after scoring just 5 runs, losing to Dubey’s clever variations. Shashwat Rawat played a useful inning of 33 runs in 29 balls, but was bowled by Kotian.
Mumbai bowlers performed brilliantly, especially in the powerplay. Shej impressed with figures of 2/11 which included a brilliant return catch to dismiss Vishnu Solanki while Atharva Ankolekar took over the match with 1/25.
