Tamil Nadu win 2021/22 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Records broken
Tamil Nadu have been crowned champions of the 2021/22 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after beating Karnataka in the final. Shahrukh Khan helped TN chase 152 by hitting a six on the final delivery. He powered TN to their second consecutive title. TN, who had entered India's premier T20 competition as the defending champions, qualified for their third straight final. Here are the key stats.
How did the match pan out?
Karnataka were off to a patchy start after Tamil Nadu invited them to bat. They lost three wickets in the powerplay. Middle-order batter Abhinav Manohar made a brief recovery, taking Karnataka past 100. Another crucial knock by Praveen Dubey guided them to 151/7. Tamil Nadu's top three sailed through the initial overs before choking. Shahrukh guided TN them to victory in the final-ball thriller.
Tamil Nadu win their third SMAT title
Tamil Nadu clinched their third Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 title, now the most by a team in the tournament. Baroda, Gujarat, and Karnataka have won the tournament twice. Tamil Nadu beat Baroda to win the 2020/21 edition. They were also the champions of the inaugural edition. TN beat Punjab by two wickets in what turned out to be a nail-biting summit clash.
Tamil Nadu played their 10th limited-overs final (domestic)
It was Tamil Nadu's 10th appearance in the finals of a domestic limited-overs tournament. They have emerged as champions a total of eight times. On the other hand, Karnataka lost their first-ever final (white-ball). They had a perfect record in these matches before this game.
Shahrukh Khan finishes off in style
Once again, Shahrukh proved his mettle. He came in the middle when TN were in a spot of bother. They required 57 off 28 balls at that stage. The right-handed batter launched his counter-attack, keeping TN alive in the run-chase. It all came down to the wire, with TN needing five runs off the final ball. Shahrukh brought them home with a mighty hit.
The Men in Yellow shine again!
The Men in Yellow have been on a roll this year. In October, Chennai Super Kings went on to clinch their fourth Indian Premier League title after beating Kolkata Knight Riders in the final. A month later, Australia won their maiden T20 World Cup title, beating New Zealand in the summit clash. And, Tamil Nadu have scripted history now.
Tanmay Agarwal finishes with most runs
Hyderabad's Tanmay Agarwal finishes as this edition's highest run-scorer. He racked up 334 runs from seven matches at an incredible average of 55.67. Agarwal registered a strike rate of 148.44. The Hyderabad batter smashed the joint-most half-centuries (4). Agarwal is followed by Deepak Hooda (294), Ajinkya Rahane (286), Ashwin Hebbar (279), and Manan Vohra (273) on the runs tally.
Chama V Milind registered the most wickets
The highest wicket-taker in the 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is also from Hyderabad. Left-arm pacer Chama V Milind picked up 18 wickets from seven matches at an average of 11.61. He registered a total of 2 five-wicket hauls. Milind is followed by Cheepurapalli Stephen (14), Rishi Dhawan (14), and Akshay Karnewar (13) on the wickets tally.
