Skipper Rajat Patidar led from the front with a scintillating unbeaten fifty as Madhya Pradesh trashed former champions Delhi by seven wickets to storm into their first final in 13 years at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Friday. Opting to field, Madhya Pradesh’s bowlers put up a clinical performance, with allrounder Venkatesh Iyer (2/12) leading the charge by taking two wickets to restrict Delhi, the 2018 winners, to a modest 146/5.
In reply, MP overhauled the target in 15.4 overs with Patidar top-scoring with a 29-ball 66 not out, which included four fours and six sixes. Patidar shared an unbroken 106-run stand off 57 balls with Harpreet Singh Bhatia (46 not out), dashing Delhi’s hopes of a fightback.
Harpreet, who struck four boundaries and two sixes, hit the winning runs with a six off Suyash Sharma, who conceded 45 runs in 3.4 overs. Opener Harsh Gawli (30) also made a useful contribution. Madhya Pradesh, runners-up in 2011, will now face Mumbai in the final on Sunday.
Earlier, asked to bat, Delhi started solidly but lost momentum due to a flurry of quick wickets. Yash Dhull (11) and Priyansh Arya (29) put on 38 runs in the first 33 balls before both were dismissed by Tripuresh Singh (1/18) and Kumar Kartikeya (1/23) respectively, leaving Delhi at 54/2 in the ninth over.
Iyer struck twice in three balls to remove skipper Ayush Badoni (19) and Himmat Singh (15) as Delhi slipped to 79/5. Anuj Rawat then hit three fours and a six in his unbeaten 24-ball 33, while Mayank Rawat contributed a 21-ball 24 to push Delhi closer to the 150-mark.
It would have taken an inspired bowling performance to defend the total, and veteran pacer Ishant Sharma almost delivered when he dismissed opener Arpit Gaud (0) off the first ball of the innings before removing Subhranshu Senapati (7), leaving MP at 20/2 in the 3rd over. However, Gawli’s counter-attacking 30 (4×4, 1×6) kept MP’s chase on track. He was dismissed by Himanshu Chauhan (1/37) in the 7th over, but it did little to slow down Patidar and Harpreet, who powered MP to a dominant victory.
