Suryansh Shedge, Atharva Ankolekar propel Mumbai to second Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], December 15 : Suryansh Shedge and Atharva Ankolekar's exceptional batting performance in the end guided the Mumbai team to their second Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as they defeated Madhya Pradesh by five wickets on Sunday at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Opting to bowl first, the Mumbai cricket team restricted Madhya Pradesh to 174/8 in 20 overs before chasing down the target in 17.5 overs. Rajat Patidar top-scored for Madhya Pradesh with a 40-ball 81 while Suryakumar Yadav's 48 off 35 was the top score by a Mumbai batter.
Suryansh Shedge's unbeaten late blitz, 36 off 15, allowed Mumbai to win the match comfortably.
This was Mumbai's second title at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Mumbai's first title came in 2022 when they defeated Himachal Pradesh by three wickets in the final.
On Sunday, Mumbai struck early as Madhya Pradesh lost openers Arpit Gaud and Harsh Gawli inside the first two overs.
Subhranshu Senapati steadied the innings briefly to take Madhya Pradesh to 38/2 in the powerplay. However, his dismissal, followed by Venkatesh Iyer's departure in the 13th over, left MP reeling at 86/5.
Madhya Pradesh cricket team captain Rajat Patidar then played a crucial knock to rescue his side despite wickets falling at the other end. He brought up his fifth fifty of the tournament in just 28 balls and saved his best for the last, smashing four sixes and a boundary in the final two overs.
Patidar's 81 off 40 was laced with six fours and six sixes and helped his team finish strongly.
With 428 runs at an average of over 61 and a strike rate of 186.08, Patidar ended up as the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament behind Ajinkya Rahane.
On the other hand, Mumbai's chase began aggressively but the wickets of Prithvi Shaw (10) and Shreyas Iyer (16) kept them at 50/2 in the powerplay.
Suryakumar Yadav, captain of the Indian T20 team, and Ajinkya Rahane, the top scorer at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024 with 469 runs, combined to take Mumbai at 89/2 at the halfway mark.
Ajinkya Rahane's wicket ended the 52-run partnership in the 12th over. Shivam Dube was dismissed in the 14th and Suryakumar Yadav's wicket in the 15th over pushed Mumbai on the back foot.
Mumbai needed 45 runs going into the final five overs. Suryansh Shedge and Atharva Ankolekar combined to take 17 runs off Kumar Kartikeya's over and then 16 runs from Venkatesh Iyer to reduce the target to 12 runs off 18 balls.
Suryansh Shedge hit a boundary and a six followed by a single to level the scores. Atharva Ankolekar then smashed a straight six over the bowler's head to finish the contest in style.
Suryansh Shedge's unbeaten 36 off 15 included three fours and as many maximums while Atharva Ankolekar's 16 came off just six deliveries. Their 51-run partnership came off just 19 balls.
Brief Score: Madhya Pradesh 174/8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 81*, Subhranshu Senapati 23, Shardul Thakur 2/41) vs Mumbai 180/5 in 17.5 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 48, Suryansh Shedge 36*; Tripuresh Singh 2/34).