Jharkhand cricket team led by Ishan Kishan has become the new champion of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT). Jharkhand beat Haryana by 69 runs in the final of SMAT, the biggest T20 tournament in Indian domestic cricket. With this, Jharkhand won the title of Mushtaq Ali Trophy for the first time. The star of the win was captain Ishan himself, who scored a blistering century in the final to help Jharkhand post a record score of 262 runs. However, Haryana could only manage 193 runs in reply.
Jharkhand champions in SMAT for the first time
The final was played on Thursday, December 18 at the MCA Cricket Stadium in Pune. Prior to this final, Jharkhand had won nine consecutive matches out of the previous ten matches of the tournament. Their only loss came before the finals, but by then, the team had already secured their spot in the title match. As a result, he was considered a strong contender for victory in the final. Captain Ishan's excellent form was the main reason for this.
Captain Ishan's explosive innings in the final
Ishan and his team maintained this dominance and expectations in the final as well, with the captain himself in charge. Despite the dismissal of opener Virat Singh in the very first over, Ishan started an aggressive game and was well supported by Kumar Kushagre. Together, they put on a blistering 177-run stand for the second wicket. Ishan completed his century in 45 balls, but Kushagra was dismissed for 81 runs. Anukul Roy and Robin Minz then added 75 runs in just 32 balls to take the team to 262. Minz scored 31 off 14 balls, while Roy scored 40 off 20 balls.
Deadly bowling from Sushant and Anukul
Meanwhile, Haryana lost two wickets including captain Ankit Kumar in the first over. Left-arm fast bowler Vikas Kumar made the first breakthrough. However, Yashvardhan Dalal then scored a blistering half-century off just 19 balls, while Nishant Sindhu and Samant Jakhar also batted aggressively. However, none of the trio could convert their starts into big scores. Left-arm fast bowler Sushant Mishra also played a key role in this, taking three wickets for 27 runs in four overs. However, the biggest blow came from Anukul Roy (2/42), who dismissed Dalal and Sindhu. Eventually, the entire team was bowled out for 193 runs in 18.3 overs, giving Jharkhand their maiden title.
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