SMAT 2024: Rawat dents Uttar Pradesh to help Delhi reach semi-finals

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], December 11 : Anuj Rawat's outburst with the bat allowed Delhi to breeze past Uttar Pradesh with a 19-run victory, booking their seat in the final four of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Wednesday.
Rawat's splendid display with the bat set Delhi's date with Madhya Pradesh in the semi-final, which will be played on December 13.
The M Chinnaswamy Stadium witnessed the return of the former Royal Challengers Bengaluru prodigy, Rawat and his explosive blitzkrieg laced with a flurry of boundaries.
In the quarter-final clash, Uttar Pradesh decided to bank on its glamorous pace attack and put Delhi to bat after winning the toss. The opening pair of Priyansh Arya and Yash Dhull laid the foundation for Rawat to come in and express himself with a blistering stand.
Dhull and Arya fired an 81-run opening stand, and captain Ayush Badoni topped it up with a swift 25 off 18 deliveries. Rawat seized the opportunity by going all guns blazing after cautiously dealing the first five deliveries that he faced.
He got on the top of the bounce to cut the ball away for four off Mohsin Khan. With his first boundary, Rawat had sniffed the opportunity to hammer a huge knock. He picked his second boundary just a ball later with another cut shot, marking the beginning of his night of dominance.
As the first innings arrived at the 16th over, Rawat decided to make a full charge against Shivam Mavi. He reeled off two successive fours and two successive sixes to take 23 runs away from the over.
In the penultimate over, he made the seasoned Bhuvneshwar Kumar look like an amateur by picking up three boundaries in the over.
He finished Delhi's innings in style by smoking the ball past the boundary line, bringing the total to 193/3. Rawat returned unbeaten with 73 from 33 deliveries, laced with seven fours and five maximums.
In reply, Priyam Garg led the resistance for Uttar Pradesh with his 54-run knock, but he didn't find the needed support from his compatriots.
Badoni shuffled his bowling options in a shrewd manner, which didn't allow a partnership to unfold, which could have kept Uttar Pradesh in the race.
With a clinical bowling display, Uttar Pradesh succumbed to a total of 174 and endured a 19-run defeat, confirming their exit from the competition.