Batters carry Madhya Pradesh into SMAT semis

An early blitz by Arpit Gaud (29-ball 42) and a steady hand by Venkatesh Iyer (33-ball 38*) helped Madhya Pradesh over the line in the quarterfinal clash against Saurashtra. Chasing 174 for a win, Madhya Pradesh overhauled the total with six wickets in hand and four balls to spare.

In a neatly paced chase, Gaud took the attacking approach. Ankur Panwar was dismissed in the last over of the powerplay for a run-a-ball 11. Subhranshu Senapati got going early, with a couple of boundaries in his first over, but after Gaud was dismissed, Madhya Pradesh slowed down briefly in their approach. Venkatesh, especially was slow to begin with, taking 17 deliveries for his first two runs. But he became the stabilizer of the run chase, as the batters around him exploded freely. He smashed a couple of boundaries against Prerak Mankad in the 13th over to push his scoring rate.

In his next over, Mankad tripped in his run-up, was injured and had to leave the field. That helped Madhya Pradesh's cause as Sammar Gujjar, who filled in for him, ended up getting carted for 14 runs in only five deliveries. Rajat Patidar cut loose and raced away to an 18-ball 28. Soon after his dismissal, Harpreet Bhatia took over the mantle of hitting the big shots and his brisk 9-ball 22 was enough to aid MP over the line comfortably.

Earlier, MP struck early after electing to field, with Tripuresh Singh striking off the second third ball of the innings. A brief flourish provided by Harvik Desai and Prerak Mankad too was nipped in the bud in the Powerplay following a 31-run stand. The 36-run stand between Vishwarajsinh Jadeja and Chirag Jani provided a much-needed platform for them to flourish in the latter half. Jadeja was undone by a bouncer from Rahul Batham, which he top-edged to deep square leg.

On an easy-paced wicket, Jani unfurled his big hits. He duly put away the pacers and spinners with ease, but MP kept chipping away with wickets. Venkatesh, who bowled with a bit of nip, cleaned up Sammar Gujjar as he missed the wrong line and then had Ruchir Ahir caught in the deep. Even amidst the struggles of the Saurashtra batters, Jani's solo act (45-ball 80) ensured the side reached a respectable 173/7.