SMAT: Baroda stun Bengal

Seasoned pacer Mohammed Shami had a lackluster outing, which affected Bengal's performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy quarterfinal. Shami, striving to rejoin the Indian Test squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, managed two late wickets but lacked his usual sharpness. He began with two wides, struggled with accuracy throughout his spell and was hit for two sixes by Shivalik Sharma.

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Baroda posts competitive total

Opener Shashwat Rawat top-scored with a brisk 40 off 26 balls, helping Baroda post a challenging 172 for seven. Contributions from Hardik Pandya and Shivalik Sharma added to Baroda's total. Shami's two wickets came late in the innings when Baroda was accelerating.

Bengal's batting collapses

Bengal’s chase faltered early, as Lukeman Merriwala wreaked havoc with three wickets in the fourth over, dismissing Karan Lal, skipper Sudip Kumar Gharami and Writtick Chatterjee. Shahbaz Ahmed tried to anchor the innings with a fine 55 off 36 balls but lacked support from other batters. Bengal was bowled out for 131, losing by 41 runs.

Baroda’s bowlers shine

Baroda's pace trio — Hardik Pandya (3/27), Lukeman Merriwala (3/17) and Atit Sheth (3/41) — dominated Bengal's batting lineup. Pandya also dismissed Shami for a duck, underlining his all-round contribution to the win.

MP storms into semis

In the other quarterfinal at Alur, Madhya Pradesh defeated Saurashtra by six wickets to secure a semifinal spot. Venkatesh Iyer starred with an all-round performance, taking two wickets and scoring an unbeaten 38 off 33 balls, helping MP chase down 173 with four balls to spare.