Ashwin Hebbar

Somya Kapoor ∙ 5 Nov 2021

SMAT 2021: Ruturaj Gaikwad continues form, Assam cause early upset

The second day of the on-going Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy witnessed some brilliant performances and some turnarounds during the course. While Assam caused an early upset in the tournament against Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Odisha were involved in a nail biter. Here is a look at some of the highlights from the day’s proceedings. Assam vs Gujarat Assam were involved in a huge upset in the SMAT 2021 after they thumped Gujarat by 7 wickets in Delhi on Friday. Batting first, Gujarat were bundled out for 89 in the final over. Mukhtar Hussain was the pick of the bowlers for Assam after he returned with figures of 3/20 in 4 overs. Later, Assam lost three wickets but managed to chase down the target in 13.1 overs. Tamil Nadu vs Odisha Tamil Nadu and Odisha were involved in a nail-biter but the Jagadeesan-led side stole away a win eventually by just 1 run. Batting first, Tamil Nadu put 165/5 in 20 overs after Aparajith top scored with an unbeaten 44 in 20 deliveries. Later, Odisha lost a couple of early wickets but Subhranshu Senapati’s 67 and a 21-ball 38* from Abhishek Raut kept the side in the game till the end but missed to go over the line by a whisker as Odisha were restricted to 164/6 in 20 overs. Ruturaj Gaikwad continues form Maharashtra’s Ruturaj Gaikwad continued his form in the T20 format after he struck second fifty on the trot in the on-going SMAT against Punjab. Gaikwad notched up 80 runs in 54 deliveries that included three maximums and 8 fours during the course to help his side chase down a target of 138 runs by 7 wickets in less than 18 overs. Earlier, in the day, Shubman Gill was also among some runs for his side as he scored a 39-ball 44. Rahane’s important half-century Mumbai were back on track after they comprehensively defeated Services by 17 runs in Guwahati on Friday. Captain Ajinkya Rahane scored a well-compiled 54 off 44 which involved four maximums and three fours to help the side put 154/7 in 20 overs. Later, Mumbai bowlers did the job and restricted Services to 137/7 in 20 overs despite a 49-ball 64 from Rajat Paliwal. Ashwin Hebbar’s ton In a high-scoring encounter between Andhra and Haryana, Ashwin Hebbar struck a fine century as he remained unbeaten at 103 off 53 deliveries to help the side put a formidable total of 179/4 in 20 overs against Haryana in Vadodara on Friday. But the total wasn’t really enough as Haryana rode on some brilliant batting from Himanshu Rana (52 off 30), Shivam Chauhan (45* off 27) and Rahul Tewatia (46* off 25) to chase down the target by 6 wickets and in 17.5 overs. Avesh Khan’s bowling display, Venkatesh Iyer’s all-round show Madhya Pradesh fast bowler Avesh Khan and Venkatesh Iyer rattled the Railways side to restrict them to 97/9 in 16 overs. Avesh scalped three wickets for 23 runs in 4 overs while Iyer picked up a couple at the cost of 20 runs in three overs. Later, Iyer scored 50* off 41 balls and anchored the side to a win by 7 wickets in 13.5 overs. Tamil Nadu are at the top in Elite Group A with 8 points, Bengal are sitting at the helm in Elite Group B with 8 points, Haryana are in front in the Elite Group C with 8 points, Madhya Pradesh are the table-toppers in Elite Group D with 8 points, Hyderabad also have 8 points and presently rank first in Elite Group E while Vidarbha are leading in Plate with 8 points.