The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT 2024) final is currently underway at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru with Mumbai taking on Madhya Pradesh in the final. MP Skipper Rajat Patidar lit up the final with a brilliant half century (81 runs of 40 balls) but the major taking point was the controversial wicket of Shreyas Iyer. The video of the catch has gone viral on social media
Venkatesh Iyer's controversial wicket
The incident happened in the first ball of the 13th over. Mumbai’s Suryansh Shedge bowled a short delivery outside off to which Venkatesh Iyer attempted a cut shot. However, the ball flew towards backward point, where Rahane made a low diving catch.
Rahane himself wasn’t sure whether the ball had carried or had bounced just before his hands. He promptly signaled to the umpires to review the decision. The third umpire, KN Anantha Padmanabhan, was called upon and faced a tough task.
The replays didn’t provide a clear answer. Typically, when there’s doubt, the benefit goes to the batter. But after multiple reviews, the decision ultimately went in favor of the bowler. Iyer was dismissed for 17 off 9 balls,
Fans react to Venkatesh Iyer's controversial dismissal
Madhya Pradesh post challenging total
Riding on skipper Rajat Patidar's impressive unbeaten knock of 81 runs from 40 balls Madhya Pradesh posted 174/8 in their 20 overs during the SMAT 2025 final. After losing half the team for just 86 runs on the board, Patidar carried the bat till the end to help his team post respectable total.
For Mumbai Shardul Thakur and Royston Dias picked up 2 wickets apiece. Atharva Ankolekar, Shivam Dube and Suyansh Shedge picked up one wicket apiece. At the time of writing Mumbai were 40/1 with Prithvi Shaw dismissed for just 10 runs.
