Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2018 Final Review: Delhi reign supreme yet again

Delhi clinched the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2018 title and skipper Pradeep Sangwan was declared the Man of the Match.

Published - 26 Jan 2018, 21:59 IST | Updated - 26 Jan 2018, 21:59 IST

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After one and a half month of immense cricketing action, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy finally comes to an end after a nail-biting encounter between two neighbouring states, Delhi and Rajasthan. The encounter witnessed a crackerjack of a contest between bat and ball among two evenly matched sides. Both Rajasthan and Delhi entered the knockout stage, securing 12 points in their respective groups as they lost just one game out of four that they played.

In the title encounter, it was Delhi skipper Pradeep Sangwan who won the toss. The day-night game at the Eden Gardens has always assisted the bowlers under lights and going with the same thought, Sangwan elected to bat first. It was the Delhi openers, especially Gautam Gambhir who got the team off to a flier, followed by a special knock from Unmukt Chand’s bat.

Chand’s scintillating knock in the final

The 24-year-old went on to score a spectacular half-century. Chand made a statement just a day ahead of the IPL 2018 auction with a scintillating 49-ball 53 to pave the way for a strong total. His inning was laced with four boundaries and two mighty sixes. Apart from Chand’s confident knock, Delhi struggled a bit in the middle as no batsman was able to convert the start into a big total. Eventually, Delhi were able to put up a fighting 153 runs on the board.

For Rajasthan, 21-year-old Aditya Garhwal along with Ankit Lamba started the proceedings. While chasing a target in the all-important final, it’s always important to have a decent start and the openers were expected to do the job for them. However, Rajasthan’s in-form player Lamba returned for just 1 courtesy a spectacular delivery from Pradeep Sangwan.

His departure led Aditya Garhwal to play more responsibly as he played a pivotal knock but his wicket after reaching fifty triggered a batting collapse and eventually, they were bundled out for a paltry score of 112, falling short of the target by 41 runs. Sangwan along with Kulwant Khejrolia and Pawan Negi picked six of them.

In the end, Delhi clinched the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2018 title and skipper Pradeep Sangwan was declared the Man of the Match.