Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, 2021: Semi-Finals – Arun Karthik’s record-breaking effort, Tamil Nadu's winning streak and more stats

Tamil Nadu and Baroda made it to the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy 2020-21 after registering wins against Rajasthan and Punjab respectively in the semi-finals on Friday. Tamil Nadu did have hiccups during their 7-wicket win over Rajasthan where they had to chase a target of 155. Arun Karthik was the star for the Dinesh Karthik-led side with an unbeaten 89 and also four catches. Later, Baroda captain Kedar Devdhar inspired his team to a comfortable 25-run win over the Punjab team who were unbeaten in the tournament to this point.

Here are all the statistical highlights from the semi-finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy 2020-21:

4 – Baroda has qualified for the final of the SMAT20 Trophy for the 4th instance; the joint-most times by any team alongside Punjab (4 times – Won 0, Lost 4). Baroda won the title in 2011-12 and 2013-14 season but ended up on the losing side in 2015-16. No team in the history of the SMAT20 Trophy has won more than two titles thus far.

7 – Tamil Nadu has won each of the seven matches they played in the SMAT20 Trophy 2020-21 thus far. This is now the joint-longest winning streak for them in the T20 format as they won seven in succession between 2007 and 2010.

14 – Number of fifty-plus scores by Kedar Devdhar in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy; the joint 2nd most by any player in this competition. Harpreet Singh leads the list with 15 fifties while Mayank Agarwal and Ankit Lamba have 14 fifty-plus scores apiece in SMA T20 Trophy.

74 – Number of matches Kedar Devdhar has played in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy; the joint-most by any player in the history of the competition alongside Paras Dogra (74). Devdhar will become the most-capped player of the SMA T20 Trophy if he features in the final on Sunday.

75 – Siddharth Kaul has taken 75 wickets for Punjab which are the joint 2nd most by any player for a team in the SMAT20 Trophy. Jaydev Unadkat leads the list with 78 wickets while Ankit Rajpoot also has 75 wickets in this competition for Uttar Pradesh.

89* – Arun Karthik’s unbeaten 89 is now the 2nd highest individual in T20 cricket by any player who has taken 4+ wickets in the same game. Rishabh Pant scored 116* alongside claiming four catches during the SMA T20 Trophy game in 2017-18 for Delhi against Haryana.

Arun’s unbeaten 89 is also the 4th highest individual in the T20 format for Tamil Nadu and also the highest in a T20 chase for them. Arun also became the first outfielder to claim four catches in a T20 match for Tamil Nadu.

98 – The semi-final against Baroda was the 98th match in the Twenty20 format for Punjab; the most number of T20 games played by an Indian domestic team surpassing Delhi (97). The defeat brought an end to their 6-match winning streak which is their longest in this format.

1496 – Runs Siddharth Kaul conceded across the 62 matches he played in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy; the 3rd most number of runs by any player. Only Piyush Chawla (1757 runs in 69 games) and Samad Fallah (1580 in 58 games) conceded more runs than Kaul thus far.