Karnataka won a nail-biter of a game against Bengal in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2021’s first super over. Manish Pandey finished the game in style hitting a six off Mukesh Kumar to ensure there are no hiccups from Karnataka after he took the game into the super over with his acrobatic fielding on the final delivery. The well-earned win has ensured a final berth for Karnataka who will now play Vidarbha in the second semi-final at the same venue on November 20.
The super over
KC Cariappa was given the responsibility to bowl the super over. The first ball was a dot ball as Kaif Ahmed tried to slog sweep blindly. On the next ball, Cariappa pitched the ball wide but not full enough and Kaif went for a big shot but got caught on the boundary. Veteran Sreevats Goswami then hit the third ball for a boundary but got out off the next trying to take a couple of runs. Bengal managed to score just five runs in the super over. Goswami also became the first batter in SMAT to get run out twice in a single match.
Chasing six runs in the super over, skipper Pandey and Karun Nair walked in to bat. Pandey had not been in good form scoring 29 runs from 34 deliveries. He took a couple of runs off the first ball off Mukesh’s delivery. The pacer pitched the next one short and Pandey deposited it over deep mid-wicket boundary for a six to end the proceedings and book a place for Karnataka in the semi-final.
Ritwik takes Bengal to super over
Bengal were struggling in the run chase of 161 with required run rate going out of their grasp before death overs. Writtick Chatterjee’s wicket in the 15th over made matters worse for them. Chatterjee was the set batter on the crease having scored 51 runs from 40 deliveries including two fours and three sixes. With the fall of sixth wicket, Bengal needed 53 runs from 31 deliveries with two new batters on the crease.
Ritwik Choudhary stood up to the task with his big-hitting skills. After a four-run 16th over, Bengal needed 49 runs from 24 deliveries and that’s when Ritwik started to accelerate but it was not enough. Bengal needed 20 runs to win in the final over and the right-handed batter Akash Deep for two consecutive sixes off the first two balls to bring his team back in game. On the last ball, Bengal needed just one run to win but Pandey pulled off a run out from short cover position to save Karnataka from getting knocked out of the tournament.
Nair’s whirlwind fifty
Earlier in the first innings, Karnataka were asked to bat first at Arun Jaitely stadium. At halfway mark, Karnataka were not going strong with 56 runs on the board for the loss of two wickets. But wickets in hand helped the side score freely in the second half. Veteran Nair who did not get a single game in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 remained unbeaten for 55 runs off 29 deliveries including four fours and three sixes. In death overs he had support from other end as well from Abhinav Manohar and Aniruddha Joshi who scored 9-ball 19 and 10-ball 16 respectively. In last five overs, Karnataka added 61 runs to the score which helped them post 160/5.
