Cricket: Iyer-led star-studded Mumbai set for SMAT final against Patidar's Madhya Pradesh

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], December 15 (ANI): Mumbai will be facing off against Madhya Pradesh in the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.
The match will start at 4:30 PM. Mumbai will be aiming for their second SMAT title, having won it back in 2022. Meanwhile, MP has never got its hands on the trophy. Both teams will be making their second final appearances. MP previously played the final against Bengal in 2011 but lost, as per Olympics.com.
Mumbai has a star-studded line-up, featuring likes of Indian T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav, skipper Shreyas Iyer and tournament's top-run-getter Ajinkya Rahane, who has made 432 runs in eight matches at an average of 61.71 and a strike rate of over 169, with five half-centuries to his name. His knock against Baroda of 98 in 56 balls, which helped them chase down 159 in the semis, in his best score.
In eight matches, pacer Mohit Avasthi is the top-wicket-taker for Mumbai, taking 13 scalps at an average of 23.30 and best figures of 4/44.
Mumbai had topped the Group E before defeating Vidarbha in a high-scoring quarterfinal match, which saw Rahane lead a chase of 222 runs with 84 in 45 balls.
Madhya Pradesh's run to the final has been led by captain Rajat Patidar and the left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya. Patidar is MP's highest run-getter and overall third, with 347 runs in nine matches at an average of 49.57, with a strike rate of over 182, with four fifties to his name. His best score is 78.
Kartikeya is the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament, with 16 scalps at an average of 15.68, with best figures of 3/25. Chandigarh's pacer Jagjit Singh is the leading wicket-taker with 18 scalps in seven matches at an average of 12.72 and best figures of 5/38.
The all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer (210 runs in eight innings at an average of 70.00 and six wickets), adds depth to MP's line-up.
MP had topped Group A before defeating Saurashtra and Delhi in the quarters and semis, respectively.
Squads:
Mumbai Squad: Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer(c), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Suryansh Shedge, Hardik Tamore(w), Shardul Thakur, Tanush Kotian, Mohit Avasthi, Atharva Ankolekar, Jay Gokul Bista, Royston Dias, Siddhesh Lad, Shams Mulani, Akash Anand, Sairaj Patil, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, M Juned Khan, Himanshu Singh
Madhya Pradesh Squad: Arpit Gaud, Harsh Gawli(w), Subhranshu Senapati, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Rajat Patidar(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Tripuresh Singh, Rahul Batham, Kumar Kartikeya, Avesh Khan, Shivam Shukla, Vikas Sharma, Aniket Verma, Kamal Tripathi, Arshad Khan, Kulwant Khejroliya, Abhishek Pathak, Pankaj Chothmal Sharma. (ANI)