Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021: Top 3 wicket-takers

The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 came to a conclusion on Monday, with Tamil Nadu beating Karnataka in a final-ball thriller.

Tamil Nadu won India's domestic T20 tournament for the second year in a row.

R Sai Kishore's stunning spell with the ball helped restrict Karnataka to 151/7. Tamil Nadu scored at a sluggish tempo, and when N Jagadeesan (41) and Vijay Shankar (18) fell off consecutive deliveries in the 16th over, it looked like Manish Pandey's team was in the driving seat.

However, a late assault from Shahrukh Khan saw Tamil Nadu win the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in a dramatic finish.

Tamil Nadu needed five off the final delivery and Shahrukh smashed it over square leg to seal the win for his team. He finished with 33 off 15, giving his credentials as a finisher a major boost.

Tamil Nadu beat Kerala by five wickets in the quarter-finals before registering a comfortable eight-wicket win over Hyderabad in the semi-finals after bowling them out for 90.

Karnataka, on the other hand, had a close escape against Saurashtra in the preliminary quarter-finals, winning by two wickets with just one ball remaining.

Their quarter-final against Bengal was an even closer affair as the match went to a Super Over. Captain Manish Pandey hit the winning six in the Super Over as they progressed to the semi-finals.

They then defended their total of 176 against Vidarbha in the semi-finals.

There were some memorable performances, both with bat and ball in this season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

From Prabhsimran Singh's 61-ball 119 against Goa to Darshan Nalkande taking four wickets in four balls against Karnataka in the semi-final, some players lit the stage up with their brilliance.

There were also some players who consistently delivered in their disciplines.

On that note, here are the three players with the most wickets in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021:

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#3 Rishi Dhawan - 14 wickets

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021:Rishi Dhawan was the only player to take a six-wicket haul this season.

Like Cheepurapalli Stephen, Rishi Dhawan also took 14 wickets in his six matches in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021, but at a higher economy rate.

The medium pacer averaged 11.14 and maintained an economy rate of 7.14.

His best performance came in the group stage match against Jammu and Kashmir, when he took six wickets for 23 runs. He also scored an unbeaten 45 in that match.

Dhawan was the only bowler to take a six-wicket haul in this season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Under his leadership, Haryana reached the preliminary quarter-finals, but were eventually knocked out by Kerala.

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#2 Cheepurapalli Stephen - 14 wickets

Andhra's Cheepurapalli Stephen took 14 wickets in five matches and was the joint second-highest wicket-taker in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021.

The left-arm medium pacer took three wickets or more in four of the five matches he played.

He registered his best figures of 4/11 in their final group match against Himachal Pradesh.

He was also miserly with the ball, with an economy rate of just 6.05.

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#1 Chama Milind - 18 wickets

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021: Chama Milind took two five-wicket hauls.

Chama Milind took not one, but two five-wicket hauls as Hyderabad reached the semi-finals of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021.

The left-arm medium pacer began his season with three wickets against Saurashtra and then registered figures of 5/16 against Uttarakhand.

He then went on to better those figures two matches later, with figures of 5/8 against Uttar Pradesh in Hyderabad's final group stage game.

Milind took two wickets in the quarter-final against Gujarat.

Milind finished with 18 scalps in seven matches and is the highest wicket-taker in this season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.