OTD| Mumbai clinched their first T20 title by beating Himachal Pradesh in SMAT Final in 2022

Mumbai has always been a powerhouse in the Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare trophy but they had to wait for too long to get their first trophy in the shortest format. On this day last year, they defeated Himachal Pradesh to lay their hands on the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for the first time. Veteran Ajinkya Rahane led Mumbai to their maiden T20 glory in domestic cricket. 

A below-par batting performance from Himachal Pradesh

Ajinkya Rahane won the toss for Mumbai and put Himachal Pradesh (HP) to bat first. Himachal could not get off to a good start as they lost Ankush Bains and Sumeet Verma in the powerplay. Mohit Avasthi got these initial breakthroughs for Mumbai to give them an edge. Prashant Chopra and Nikhil Gangta tried to put a break on the fall of wickets but could not succeed for long as Gangta was dismissed by Tanush kotian. 

The dismissal of Gangta was followed by two quick wickets in the form of Nitin Sharma and captain Rishi Dhawan. In the lower order Akash Vasisht, Ekant Sen, and Mayank Dagar put their efforts to take Himachal to a fighting total of 143 runs. For Mumbai, Mohit Avasthi and Tanush Kotian were the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets each.

A topsy-turvy chase

This below-par total was made tough by the bowling attack of Himachal Pradesh as they picked up wickets at regular intervals. Like Himachal, Mumbai also got off to a poor start in the run chase. Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane failed in the top order which put Mumbai in a precarious situation in the powerplay. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer stabilized the run chase with a partnership. Later Sarfaraz Khan led the run chase and took his team across the finishing line almost single-handedly in the very last over which capped off a memorable victory for Mumbai by 3 wickets. Himachal Pradesh put up a gritty bowling display but, in the end, Mumbai proved to be too much for them.