Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, 2021: Final – Tamil Nadu’s 13-year wait, Siddharth's record effort and more stats

Tamil Nadu got their hands on the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after 13 years as they thumped Baroda in the final at the Motera Stadium. Manimaran Siddharth, playing his first game of the tournament, ran through the Baroda’s batting. The 4-wicket haul by the left-arm spinner saw Baroda reduce to 36/6 from 22/1 in the space of five overs. Vikram Solanki (49 off 55) and Atit Sheth (29 off 30) ensured Baroda recovered and finished with 120/9. The total was too little to put pressure on the Tamil Nadu batters who knocked off the target with two overs and seven wickets to spare.

Here are all the statistical highlights from Tamil Nadu’s comfortable win in the final against Baroda:

1-1 – Sunday’s final was only the 2nd instance of Tamil Nadu taking on Baroda in the T20 format. The two teams met in the Super League of the 2017-18 SMA T20 Trophy where Baroda chased down the target of 124 for the loss of five wickets.

2 – Tamil Nadu have won the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy for the 2nd time making them the 4th team after Baroda, Gujarat and Karnataka to win this competition twice. Tamil Nadu emerged champions in the 2006-07 season; the first-ever edition of this competition also came under Dinesh Karthik’s captaincy. Karthik is now the 2nd captain after Manish Pandey to win multiple SMA T20 Trophy titles.

3 – Manimaran Siddharth now has 16 wickets across the six T20 matches he played for Tamil Nadu including three 4-wicket hauls. These are now the most 4-wicket hauls in T20 cricket for Tamil Nadu surpassing Rahil Shah’s two 4-fers.

4 – The final against Tamil Nadu was the 4th appearance for Baroda in the finals of the SMAT20 Trophy; the joint-most instances for any team alongside Punjab (4 times; Won 0, Lost 4). Baroda won the title in their first two attempts (2011-12 and 2013-14) but finished runners up in their last two finals (2015-16 and 2020-21).

4/20 – Manimaran Siddharth became only the 4th player to record a 4-wicket haul in the final of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Karan Goel (4/13 vs Tamil Nadu in 2007), Samad Fallah (4/12 vs Hyderabad in 2010) and Rohit Dahiya (4/15 vs Gujarat in 2015) are the other players with a 4-fer in a SMAT20 Trophy finale.

6 – Number of maiden overs bowled by R Sai Kishore in the SMA T20 Trophy including one in the final. These are the most number of maiden overs bowled by any player in the history of the competition alongside Samad Fallah and Manpreet Gony.

8 – Tamil Nadu has won all the eight matches they played in the SMAT20 Trophy 2020-21. This is now the longest winning streak for Tamil Nadu in the T20 format surpassing their seven successive wins between 2007 and 2010.

75 – The Baroda skipper Kedar Devdhar is now the most capped player in the history of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The final against Tamil Nadu was Devdhar’s 75th appearance in the competition with the help of which he went past Paras Dogra’s 74 matches.