Key Highlights Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019 Matches
Thriller tournament opener, the main highlight as we look at the key highlights of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019.
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is an Indian domestic T20 tournament played in honor of the great, Syed Mushtaq Ali. The first tournament was played in the year 2009-10, Maharashtra defeating Hyderabad to claim the championship.
The 2018-19 season is the tenth edition of the tournament. The tournament officially started on 21st February, and will see the finals on 14th March at Holker Stadium, Indore.
The trophy is a great platform to help players get some healthy practice before the Indian Premier League officially kicks-off on 23rd March.
Right then, in case you missed the key moment of Syed Mushtaq Ali 2019, here’s our article that will help you witness some of the exciting knocks, bowling spells, and thrilling matches that generated a huge amount of excitement.
Thriller Tournament Opener:
The Round A match between Jharkhand and Delhi played on 21st February, 2019 at Vijayawada witnessed an exciting thriller as Jharkhand defeated Delhi by mere 3 runs.
Batting first, Jharkhand saw their star batsman, Ishan Kishan get out on duck playing 7 balls. However, riding on Virat Singh’s brilliant 70(49), Jharkhand posted a respectable total of 158-4 in 20 overs.
Delhi, the defending champions looked comfortable with the chase until the 19th over. However, with 8 runs were required of the last over, Monu Kumar bowled one of the best death overs spell as he gave away only 4 runs in the last over.
In the end, Delhi lost the match by 3 runs, thus starting the tournament on a losing note.
147(55) by Shreyas Iyer against Sikkim:
Shreyas Iyer, the Mumbai lad smashed the highest score by an Indian in a T20 match.
Shreyas Iyer smashed the Sikkim bowlers all around the park. His century saw him hitting 15 maximums and 7 boundaries at a strike rate of 267.27.
Milind Kumar eventually dismissed him in the 17th over. Had he played a few more overs, he would have definitely threatened Chris Gayle’s score of 175.
His knock saw Mumbai post tournament’s highest-ever total of 258 in 20 overs
First T20 Century by Cheteshwar Pujara:
Yes, you read that right. Cheteshwar Pujara smashed his first T20 century against Railways. The best thing about the knock was his ability to playground shots, which has always been his strength.
Known for his ability to play defensive cricket, Pujara smashed his ton off 61 balls with a strike rate of 163.93. In the process, he hit a total of 14 fours and 1 six.
Amazing Bowling Display In Vidarbha vs Rajasthan, Group B Match:
This low scoring thriller witnessed probably the two best bowling performances of the tournament.
The first came by India’s new left-arm speedster, Khaleel Ahmed. His spell of 5-18 in only 2.5 overs meant Vidarbha were bowled out for a low score of 117. Khaleel first shattered the top order, and then came in the death to finish the tail.
Then came the revenge performance by Vidarbha as their premier spinner, Akshay Karnewar bowled the match-winning spell of the tournament. His spell of 4-7 in 3.5 overs at a fantastic economy rate of 1.82 left Rajasthan crumbling as they were bundled out for a meager 73.
52(16) by Rinku Singh against Tripura:
After a sensational Ranji Trophy, Rinku Singh continued his form in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament as he smashed the fastest fifty of the tournament in just 16 balls.
He scored 52 of 16 balls at a strike rate of 325 with 4 fours and 5 sixes. Courtesy to his superb innings, Uttar Pradesh won the match comfortably.
Surely, KKR would want Rinku Singh to replicate his form in the IPL 2019 edition.
54(20) by PrabSimran Singh vs Mumbai
Most of the top knocks have been against lower rated teams, but this knock by Prab Simran Sigh against the arch-rivals, Mumbai was one of the highlights of the tournament.
PrabSimran Singh played one of the most aggressive knocks hitting 6 fours and 4 sixes at an astonishing strike rate of 270 even when the whole Punjab side got bundled out for a meager 120,
He will be the player to watch in the upcoming IPL where he will be playing for the KXIP.
5-9 by Vikas Yadav against Uttarakhand:
This amazing spell by Vikas Yadav came in a losing cause, but was one of the highlights of the tournament.
Defending a total of 164, it looked as if Services would defend the total without any issues as Vikas Yadav led the bowling with brilliant bowling figures of 4-0-9-5. However, Girish Rauturi shattered Services’ dream as he played a superb knock of 49 to lead the chase for Uttarakhand.
111(46) by Manish Pandey Vs Arunanchal Pradesh:
The man who is known to have scored the first T20 century by an Indian batsman has had a superb tournament so far. Manish Pandey smashed 9 fours and 7 sixes in his knock of 111 runs of 46 balls at a strike rate of 241.3. In the process, Karnataka scored a mammoth total of 226 in 20 overs.
Riding on Shreyas Gopal’s 5-11, Karnataka destroyed Arunanchal’s batting as they won by the match by a record 146 runs.
4-8 by Shreyas Gopal against Mizoram:
The Rajasthan Royals leggie, Shreyas Gopal led most of the good bowling performances. One of these came against the minnows, Mizoram.
Batting first, Karnataka were driven by some classy batting by Karun Nair. The stylish player played a superb knock of 71(33) taking Karnataka’s total to 242/4 in 20 overs.
Defending the total, Shreyas Gopal bowled a magnificent spell of 4-1-8-4 with an economy rate of 2 as Karanatak registered an easy win over Mizoram.
That’s about it from the key highlights from the group stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy 2019.
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Adesh Kothari is the founder of AK4Tsay1 Cricalytics with over 20 years of experience following Cricket.
Cricket to him is like what Football is to Lionel Messi, Singing is to Lata Mangeshkar, Dancing is to Michael Jackson, and Acting is to Clint Eastwood.
Besides his effervescent love for Cricket, Adesh is an MBA by qualification.
