SMAT 2024: Shami's heroics seal Bengal win; Rinku powers UP to success

Veteran pacer Mohammed Shami celebrated his Rs 10 crore deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad with a three-wicket burst that carried Bengal to an eight-wicket win over Hyderabad in a Group A match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Monday.

Shami, who is playing his first white ball tournament after last year's 50-over World Cup, took three for 21 in 3.3 overs as Bengal bowled out Hyderabad for 137 in 18.3 overs.

He received good support from Karan Lal and Shahbaz Ahmed who bagged two wickets apiece.

India batter Tilak Varma made a 44-ball 57 (5x4, 1x6) but he could not guide his side to a bigger total.

In reply, Bengal faced little trouble in scaling down the target in 17.5 overs.

Openers Abhishek Porel (41, 39b, 3x4 2x6) and Karan (46, 29b, 4x4, 4x6) made 84 runs in 9.5 overs and Bengal never did the momentum slip from there.

Rinku shines  India middle-order batter Rinku Singh made an unbeaten 24-ball 45 (4x4, 3x6) as Uttar Pradesh breezed past Himachal Pradesh's 100 in just 13.3 overs to register a seven-wicket win in a Group C match.

Former India leg-spinner Piyush Chawla (4/12 in 4 overs) and pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who on Monday was bought by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for Rs 10.75 crore in the IPL mega auction, chipped in with a wicket.

Brief scores: At Rajkot: Group A: Hyderabad: 137 all out in 18.3 overs (Tilak Varma 57, Mohammed Shami 3/21, Karan Lal 2/30, Shahbaz Ahmed 2/14) lost to Bengal: 138/2 in 17.5 overs (Karan Lal 46, Abhishek Porel 41) by 8 wickets.

At Mumbai, Group C: Himachal Pradesh: 100 all out in 18.2 overs (MJ Dagar 27; Piyush Chawla 4/12, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1/20) lost to Uttar Pradesh: 104/3 in 13.3 overs (Rinku Singh 45 not out, Madhav Kaushik 38 not out) by 7 wickets.