Mumbai leaned on their collective batting strength to subdue a spirited Madhya Pradesh by five wickets to clinch the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Sunday.
Mumbai were stretched on more than one occasion during the chase of 175, a target MP built around skipper Rajat Patidar’s fluent unbeaten 81, on a slightly tacky pitch, but eventually they reached 180 for five in 17.5 overs.
This was Mumbai’s second SMAT title after winning it for the first time in 2022, while MP’s wait for a maiden trophy prolonged to another season.
After a brief period of lull, Suryakumar Yadav (48, 35b, 4×4, 3×6) reactivated his run-making ways and added 52 runs for the third wicket with Ajinkya Rahane (37, 30b, 4×4).
It helped Mumbai to recover from the early dismissals of Prithvi Shaw and skipper Shreyas Iyer, both of them falling to rather causal shots.
Just when it seemed that the two veteran batters would carry Mumbai home, Rahane slashed Venkatesh Iyer straight into the hands of Rahul Batham at deep.