Credits: BCCI/X
Veteran Indian batter Ajinkya Rahane came up with a stellar knock of 98 runs in the first semifinal of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. On Friday, December 13, Mumbai clashed against Baroda for one final spot at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The game saw Indian batter opening for his side and adding a breath-taking score of 98 runs on the scoreboard. Owing to his knock, Mumbai easily chased the target of 159 runs and secured a spot for the summit clash of the elite domestic tournament.
It is to be noted that this was Rahane’s third 80 plus knock in the season. Batting first, Baroda posted a total of 158/7 wickets with Krunal Pandya contributing 30 runs off 24 deliveries. In return, Mumbai chased the total with ease and reached 164/4 in 19.2 overs. Rahane went all guns blazing and came up with a knock of 98 runs off 56 balls, missing a well deserved century by two runs. He was joined by skipper Shreyas Iyer after Hardik Pandya dismissed Prithvi Shaw for 8 runs. Iyer came up with a knock of 46 runs off 30 balls and built a partnership of 88 runs with Rahane.
Ajinkya Rahane registers 48th half-century in T20s
The innings saw Rahane registering his 48th fifty in T20 cricket, along with two centuries. He has scored 6,815 runs with a strike rate of over 123. During his semifinal knock, the 36-year-old slammed 11 boundaries and five towering maximums. This was Rahane’s third consecutive fifty and third consecutive fifty of the season. In this season, he scored 13, 52, 68, 22, 95, 84 and 98, respectively.
Earlier during the quarterfinal clash against Vidarbha, Rahane scored 85 runs off 45 balls at a strike rate of 186.67. He guided the side to chase a tough target of 222 runs as well as a win by six wickets. Before this clash, he scored 95 runs off 54 balls against Nagaland as Mumbai chased down 330 against Hyderabad.
