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Rajat Patidar’s rich vein in form has continued in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2022. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter smashed record-breaking nine sixes in Madhya Pradesh’s 14-run win over Railways at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium C, Rajkot.
Patidar walked out in the middle in the fifth over of Madhya Pradesh's innings as skipper Aditya Shrivastava won the toss and opted to bat first.
Patidar was destructive from the start and hit Railways bowlers around the park. The wicket of opener Chanchal Rathor in the eighth over did not have an effect on his approach. Patidar maintained a stupendous strike rate throughout his knock. He shared a 51-run partnership for the third wicket with Venkatesh Iyer (28).
Skipper Shrivastava played second fiddle to Patidar as the latter took the aerial route more often. Shrivastava contributed just 14 runs to the 67-run partnership from 31 deliveries for the fourth wicket. In the slog overs, he had support from Ashwin Das (13) and Akshat Raghuwanshi (5*) as well.
Patidar could not get to his century but remained not out for 92 from 43 deliveries including two fours and nine sixes. He batted with a strike rate of 213.95. The number of sixes he hit is the most by a Madhya Pradesh batter in an innings in the tournament's history. The fiery knock helped Madhya Pradesh post a challenging total of 190/5 on the board.
The knock made a big difference. From 52/3 in eight overs, Railways batters accelerated. The fourth-wicket partnership of 67 runs between opener Pratham Singh and Upendra Yadav kept them in the game. Pratham (55) got out in the 15th over which was followed by the wicket of Upendra (38) but cameos from Vivek Singh (23) and Suraj Ahuja (20) kept the game interesting.
In the end, Railways could post 176/9 on the board as they lost the game by 14 runs. This is Madhya Pradesh's second win from four games in Elite Group A. Patidar is in red-hot form so far. The 29-year-old has scored 182 runs from three innings at an average of 91 and a strike rate of 200.
