Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022-23 Final: Sarfaraz Khan’s heroics lift Mumbai to maiden title triumph as gutsy Himachal Pradesh fall short

In a match worthy of a final, Mumbai beat Himachal Pradesh by three wickets in a thrilling Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022-23 summit clash at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday, November 5.

Chasing 144 for victory, Mumbai seemed in the driver’s seat at 96/3 in the 14th over. However, they stumbled to 119/7 to bring Himachal right back into the match. The equation came down to 23 off 12 balls. Sarfaraz Khan (36* off 31) then clobbered Kanwar Abhinay Singh for two fours and six in the penultimate over that went for 17.

With six runs needed off the last over, Tanush Kotian (9* off 5) pulled Rishi Dhawan for a couple and then slammed the match-winning six as Mumbai registered a famous win with three balls to spare.

At the start of the chase, Mumbai lost both their openers cheaply. Prithvi Shaw was back in the hut for 11, while skipper Ajinkya Rahane managed only one. Both batters fell to Himachal skipper Dhawan. Yashasvi Jaiswal (27) and Shreyas Iyer (34) played handy knocks, but could not convert their starts. As a result, the bowling side were still in the game.

Vaibhav Arora (3/27), who had dismissed Shreyas caught and bowled, also added the scalps of Shivam Dube (7) and Aman Hakim Khan (6). Mayank Dagar then dismissed Shams Mulani (2) as the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022-23 final came alive.

Sarfaraz, however, stood in between Himachal Pradesh and glory, pulling Mumbai out of a tricky situation, not for the first time this domestic season. Of course, things could have been different had the fielder at short fine leg held on to a top-edge when Sarfaraz was on 19.

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Kotian, Avasthi shine with three-fers for Mumbai

Mumbai won the toss and opted to bowl first in the final. The bowlers backed the decision restricting Himachal Pradesh to 143/8. Tanush Kotian (3/15) and Mohit Avasthi (3/21) were the star performers as Mumbai maintained a tight leash over the opposition batters.

Avasthi trapped Ankush Bains lbw for 4 and also sent back Sumeet Verma for 8. Kotian chipped in with the wickets of Prashant Chopra (19), Nikhil Gangta (22) and Nitin Sharma (0). Shivam Dube also made his presence felt, claiming the massive scalp of Dhawan for 1.

By the 10th over of the innings, Himachal were six down for 58. Ekant Sen (37) and Akash Vasisht (25) lifted the batting side with a seventh-wicket stand of 60. Dagar also came up with an impressive cameo of 21* in 12 balls.

The late revival hauled Himachal Pradesh to a fighting total. They put up a stiff resistance with the ball as well, but couldn’t get past Mumbai’s wall - Sarfaraz.