Twitter reacts after star-studded Mumbai avoid ‘choking’ in SMAT final against Himachal Pradesh

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Despite chasing a paltry 144 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final, Mumbai were on the verge of succumbing to defeat against Himachal Pradesh. However, Sarfaraz Khan’s superb 31-ball 36 ensured to escape embarrassment as they reached the target with three wickets and as many balls to spare.

With the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, and Shivam Dube in the mix, Mumbai were firm favourties against a spirited Himachal Pradesh side ahead of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final on Saturday at Eden Gardens. They began well after asking Himachal Pradesh to bat, restricting the opponents to 143/8 in their allotted 20 overs. Tanush Kotian and Mohit Avasthi impressed the most with the ball, taking three wickets apiece while Aman Hakim Khan and Dube had one scalp each.

However, Mumbai’s chase, which was supposed to be straightforward, saw full of drama. They were in charge at one point, scoring 96/3 in 13.1 overs before Shreyas Iyer lost his wicket to Vaibhav Arora. Then Himachal Pradesh triggered a collapse, reducing Mumbai to 119/7 to make a game out of nowhere.

Considering the fact that Mumbai required 23 off 12 balls in such a low-scoring game, Himachal Pradesh was considered favourites at that point. But then their skipper Rishi Dhawan made a huge mistake, asking Kanwar Abhinay to bowl the penultimate over instead of bringing in himself. They paid the price as Abhinay conceded 17 runs off the over to reduce the equation to six off the final six balls. Dhawan tried, conceding two runs off the first ball, followed by a dot. But it was too little to defend before Kotian’s six over the deep fine leg led them to register their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Winning shot!

Celebrations time!

Great match!

Feel for Himachal Pradesh

Deserved it!

No blame game

Tough fight

First title!

Crucial knock

Knocking down

Congrats

 

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