Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019: Karnataka defeat Maharashtra to clinch their maiden T20 title 

Thanks to Mayank Agarwal and Rohan Kadam's half-centuries, Karnataka defeated Maharashtra by 8 wickets in the finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy played at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore on Thursday. It was a dominating performance by Karnataka who remained unbeaten in the 2018/19 season.

Karnataka captain Manish Pandey won the toss and decided to field first. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Maharashtra captain Rahul Tripathi got the team off to a decent start adding 35 runs in 4.5 overs. Mithun got the breakthrough by dismissing Gaikwad for 12 runs. At the end of 6 overs, Maharashtra scored 41 for 1.

After the first 6 overs, Suchith dismissed VH Zol for 8 runs. Cariappa then struck to dismiss Maharashtra captain Tripathi for 30. Naushad Shaikh and Ankeet Bawne steadied the innings with some lovely strokes, adding 81 runs for the 4th wicket. Shaikh reached his fifty off 31 balls and remained not out on 69. Maharashtra posted 155 for 4 at the end of 20 overs.

Chasing the target of 156 runs to win, Karnataka lost the early wicket of BS Sharath for just 2 runs. Rohan Kadam and Mayank Agarwal played with positive intent putting pressure on the Maharashtra bowlers. At the end of 6 overs, Karnataka were 52 for 1. After the first 6 overs, Mayank Agarwal and Rohan Kadam continued to play their natural game.

Kadam reached his half-century off 32 balls while Agarwal played with positive intent. Kadam was dismissed for a brilliant 60 in which he combined with Agarwal to add 92 runs for the 2nd wicket. Agarwal then took charge with some great hitting to reach his half-century off 37 balls and then made the batting look easy.

Agarwal remained not out on 85 off 57 balls while Karun Nair contributed only 8 runs. Karnataka won the match by 8 wickets and 9 balls to spare. It is their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title.

Karnataka 159 for 2 in 18.3 overs( Mayank Agarwal 85*, Rohan Kadam 60, Himganekar 1/21) beat Maharashtra 155 for 4 in 20 overs(Naushad Shaikh 69*, Rahul Tripathi 30, Abhimanyu Mithun 2/24, Cariappa 1/26) by 8 wickets.