NEWS
Follow UsMohammed Shami delivers again, but this time, he stepped up with the bat. Coming in at No. 10, Shami smashed an unbeaten 17-ball 32 against Chandigarh to lift Bengal from 114/8 to 159/9 in 20 overs in Bengaluru. His knock turned out to be vital as Bengal went on to win the match by just three runs and book their place in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024-25 quarter-final.
Shami smashed two sixes and a four off the final over from Sandeep Sharma to take Bengal to a competitive total. He also registered the third-highest score for a No. 10 batter. Previously, Odisha's Rajesh Mohanty, 36 off 24 and Deepraj Gaonkar from Goa, who scored 51* off 22, are the only two batters who have scored more than Shami in SMAT at 10.
Chandigarh lost wickets at regular intervals and, as a result, found no momentum in their innings. However, Raj Bawa (37 off 20) kept Chandigarh in the hunt and found some support in Pradeep Yadav (27) and Nikhil Sharma (22).
Shami, who had picked up an early wicket, returned to complete his quote in the 19th over, with Chandigarh still needing 23 runs more to win. He conceded 12, with 11 more needed off the final over. Sayan Ghosh held his nerve, picked up a couple of wickets, and conceded just seven runs to help his side over the line.
Cover image courtesy: PTI
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