Punjab crowned champions of SMAT 2023: Decoding the tournament numbers
What's the story
The 2023 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy came to a dramatic end, with Punjab becoming the maiden title winner after their 20-run win over Baroda in the finals on Monday at the PCA Stadium in Mohali. Anmolpreet Singh's majestic 113-run knock and Arshdeep Singh's exceptional 4/23 with the ball guided Punjab to their elusive title. Here we decode the stats from the 2023 SMAT.
Riyan Parag
Riyan Parag finished as the highest run-getter
Assam's captain Riyan Parag had a historic campaign with the bat. He guided Assam to their maiden semi-finals in the SMAT. The youngster amassed 510 runs in 10 matches in 2023 SMAT at an impressive average of 85. He hammered seven fifties in the tournament with a sensational strike rate of 182.79. He was the only batter with 500-plus runs in this season.
Record
The world record for most consecutive T20 fifties
Riyan hammered seven consecutive fifties in the tournament, setting the world record. He broke the previous record of five consecutive T20 fifties held by Virender Sehwag, Hamilton Masakadza, Kamran Akmal, Jos Buttler, Devon Conway, and Wayne Madsen. He slammed fifties against Bihar, Services, Sikkim, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, and Bengal. Riyan scored a 19-ball 45 in the first match against Odisha.
Batters
Other solid batting performances
Punjab's Abhishek Sharma was exceptional as he finished in second position with 485 runs from 10 matches at 48.50. He smashed two big centuries. Anmolpreet also finished with 355 runs and played a big hand in helping Punjab win the tournament. Kerala's Vishnu Vinod also did his job well, compiling 363 runs from eight matches at an average of 51.85.
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Punjab proved their batting prowess in this campaign
Punjab's 223/4 is the highest-ever total in the SMAT final history. Earlier in the tournament, they amassed a total of 275/6 against Andhra, which is the highest total recorded by an Indian T20 team. Abhishek slammed a 51-ball 112 in that match.
Wickets
Ravi Teja was the highest-wicket taker in 2023 SMAT
Hyderabad's Ravi Teja finished the 2023 SMAT as the highest wicket-taker with 19 wickets from seven matches at an average of 10.10. He registered a four-wicket haul and a fifer in this campaign. Teja owns an economy rate of 7.11. His figures of 6/13 against Chandigarh are the best in the competition's history. He broke Deepak Punia's record of 6/14 against Haryana in 2015.
Bowlers
Other notable bowling performances
Delhi's Suyash Sharma was a breakout star from this tournament, with 18 wickets in seven matches at an average of 7.22. He had an outrageous economy rate of 4.64. Atit Sheth also scalped 18 wickets and was brilliant for Baroda. He owns an average of 14.27. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Tushar Deshpande, and Siddarth Kaul scalped 16 wickets each and were phenomenal for their teams.
Suyash Sharma
Second Delhi bowler with a fifer in SMAT
Suyash's 5/13 are the best bowling figures representing Delhi in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The only other bowler from Delhi to scalp a SMAT fifer is Shivank Vashisht, who claimed 5/19 against Uttarakhand in 2021. Ishant Sharma, Suboth Bhati, and Vashisht jointly hold the third-best bowling figures in SMAT for Delhi (4/9). Notably, this is also this season's first fifer in SMAT.
Record
Second-best bowling figures on SMAT debut
Suyash's bowling figures of 5/13 was the second-best figures for a bowler on their SMAT debut. Services bowler Vikash Yadav's 5/9 versus Uttarakhand in 2019 is still in the top spot. While Shesdeep Patra's 5/18 against Mumbai (2015), Sankalp Vohra's 5/22 versus Saurashtra (2007) and Nischal Gaur's 5/28 against Delhi (2007) are the other instances when a debutant has scalped a fifer in SMAT.
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Deshpande claims a hat-trick against Mizoram in 2023 SMAT
Mumbai pacer Deshpande was exceptional against Mizoram in the 2023 SMAT as he finished with 4/13 from his four overs. His exceptional bowling rattled the Mizoram batters for only 77 runs. Vikash Kumar, Jehu Anderson, and Joseph Lalthankhuma were dismissed in Deshpande's hat-trick.
Record
Other notable records from the campaign
Tilak Varma's 69-ball 121* against Baroda in the 2023 SMAT is the highest individual score from this campaign. Bihar's Bipin Saurabh, who owns 420 runs from seven matches, is the third-highest run-getter. Abhishek owns a strike rate of 192.46, the best among batters with 200-plus runs from this campaign. Suyash's economy rate of 4.64 is the best among bowlers with at least 10 wickets.