Sanju's Kerala defeats 'mighty' Mumbai in dramatic upset at Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

HYDERABAD: Salman Nizar excelled with the bat while MD Nidheesh did the magic with the bowl, to ensure a dramatic win for Kerala over Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024. Kerala won by 43 runs in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy match held at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. The win is special since the Mumbai squad is choc-full of national team players including Shreyas Iyer.

Mumbai captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and sent Kerala into bat. Skipper Sanju Samson (4) and Mohammad Azharuddin (13) were dismissed early. However, Rohan Kunnummal (87) formed a great partnership with Salman thus taking the team to a decent total. Kerala scored 234 runs for the loss of five wickets in 20 overs. Salman Nizar remained unbeaten on 99 runs off 49 balls. Mohit Avasthi took four wickets conceding 44 runs for Mumbai.

For Mumbai, former Indian international Prithvi Shah gave a good start but fell off cheaply at 23 runs. Skipper Shreyas Iyer and former captain Rahane took things into their hands and started well but soon the wickets started falling. Rahane scored 68 runs in 35 balls. After Rahane got dismissed, Mumbai's batting order started crumbling like a pack of cards. Nidheesh took four wickets while Vinod Kumar and Abdul Basit took two each to bring the game in Kerala’s favour.