It was a one-sided affair in the first semi-final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) as Tamil Nadu thrashed Hyderabad to enter their fourth ( third consecutive) final. The defending champions made light work of Hyderabad in all-southern affairs at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Saravana Kumar was the chief architect for Tamil Nadu picking up five wickets in his four overs and ending up with figures of 5/21.
After winning the toss, Tamil Nadu captain Vijay Shankar opted to bowl. The decision proved to be wise as the bowlers hit the ground running. Wickets at regular intervals meant, Hyderabad never quite settled and were ultimately dismissed for 90. The team failed to hit three-figure marks, while Tanay Thyagarajan was the only batsman to score in double figures with 25 off 24. Interestingly, the next highest score after Thyagarajan was extras (11 runs). For Tamil Nadu, Murugan Ashwin and M Mohammed chipped in with a couple of wickets.
In response, Tamil Nadu had a shaken start losing two wickets for 16, but their skipper, Vijay Shankar and Sai Sudharsan made sure they got over the line. Shankar scored 43 off 40 and Sudharsan contributed 34 off 31 and 76 run unbeaten stand between the duo was enough to seal a spot in the final. On the other hand, Rakshann picked up both wickets for Hyderabad. Tamil Nadu won the contest with 34 balls to spare.
This will be the fourth time that Tamil Nadu has entered the final of the tournament, winners in 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons. They ended runner-up in the 2019-20 season as they had lost to Karnataka in the final.
It will be a repeat of the 2019-20 final if Karnataka can make the final this time. They play Vidarbha in the second semi-final. If Karnataka do manage to overcome Vidarbha, this will be the fourth consecutive season the SMAT will have a winner from South India.
