Returning to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after nearly four years, Railways batter Ashutosh Sharma created history at JSCA Oval Ground, Ranchi on October 17 by breaking Yuvraj Singh's record for the fastest fifty in T20 cricket. Ashutosh scored his half-century from just 11 balls to break Yuvraj's 12-ball fifty record created against England in T20 World Cup 2007 which featured six sixes off Stuart Broad. The record for the fastest fifty in T20 cricket belongs to Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee who reached his half-century from just nine balls against Mongolia in the Asian Games 2023.
Ashutosh walked out to bat in the 16th over of the innings against Arunachal Pradesh. The 25-year-old smashed as many as eight sixes in his record-breaking knock. He hit one four and took a single as well before getting dismissed by Yab Niya in the penultimate over of the innings.
The record for the fastest half-century in SMAT history was broken on October 16. Gujarat's Saurav Chauhan scored a half-century from just 13 balls to lead his side to victory within just eight overs.
Apart from Ashutosh, Railways wicketkeeper-batter Upendra Yadav stayed unbeaten for 103 off 51 deliveries. He hit nine sixes and six fours in his century. Upendra's century and Ashutosh's record-breaking fifty helped Railways post a mammoth total of 246/5 on the board. Myendung Singpho was taken to the cleaners by Ashutosh as he conceded 28 runs from just one over.
Ashutosh's last match in SMAT was in the 2019 edition. He used to play for Madhya Pradesh and scored 84 against Puducherry while opening alongside Rajat Patidar at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
In the run chase, Arunachal Pradesh lost both their openers to Shivam Chaudhary. Ayush Awasthi and Divyanshu Yadav shared a 44-run partnership for the third wicket but the required run rate shot up. Awasthi was the top run-scorer for 36 off 29 balls. Arunachal Pradesh suffered a batting collapse as they went from 81/2 to 119 all out with 11 balls left in the innings. Susheel Kumar was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets for 17 runs from three overs. Railways won the game by a comfortable margin of 127 runs.
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