SMAT Round 7 highlights: Sudharsan, Rahane and Brar among IPL stars in spotlight

Rahane, Sudharsan and Brar were the IPL stars in action in SMAT R7 [Source: KKR_Xtra, CricCrazyJohns, Punjab Kings/X.com]

The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025 league phase concluded on Monday, December 8, as teams played their 7th round-robin fixture across the five centres, aiming to finish the campaign on a high, while others sought to secure their spot in the super league by finishing top 2 in their respective groups.

As Sai Sudharsan helped Tamil Nadu avoid a last-placed finish, Harpreet Brar showed his all-around abilities, and Ajinkya Rahane missed his century by a whisker, here's how the SMAT R7 unfolded.

KKR duo of Rahane-Raghuvanshi help Mumbai thrash Odisha

Bowling first to Odisha, captain Shardul Thakur bowled two maiden overs upfront and finished with 0/1 (2) as the batting team went on to score 167/7. Suryansh Shedge picked 3/46 (4), and Sairaj Patil finished his spell with 2/42.

In response, Sarfaraz Khan partnered with Ajinkya Rahane at the top in Ayush Mhatre's absence and got 28(15) in their 74-run stand. Former Mumbai captain Rahane went on to score 95*(56) with 9 fours and three sixes, and his Kolkata Knight Riders teammate Angkrish Raghuvanshi got 38*(26) with five fours to help Mumbai finish the league phase as table toppers.

Mayank Agarwal's Karnataka crash out with another thriller loss

Batting first in Ahmedabad, captain Agarwal only scored 29(26), followed by Devdutt Padikkal's 32(23). Opener B R Sharath and Smaran Ravichandran were the two crucial contributors with the bat, scoring 44(20) and 24(11) to take the team to 197/6. Tripura responded with captain Manisankar Murasingh's 69(35) and Hanuma Vihari's 36(19) to level the score and take the match into the super over.

Murasingh (5* off 2) and Sridam Paul (16* off 4) took their super over total to 22/0, which was defended by the skipper in his super over. He bowled a spell of 2/30 (4) and 1/18 (1) in the match. They knocked Karnataka out of the competition.

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Dhir, Brar & Ashwani dominate Gujarat to top the group

After Abhishek Sharma joined the India camp for the South Africa T20Is, Prabhsimran Singh was named as the captain of Punjab for the rest of the SMAT season. The captain scored 22(16) before Mumbai Indians sensation Naman Dhir took the responsibility and scored 61(36) with four fours and three sixes, alongside cameos from Salil Arora and Sanvir Singh. Harpreet Brar finished off with 24*(8) to guide them to 188/8.

In response, Gujarat captain Urvil Patel only managed a six-ball duck by MI pacer Ashwani Kumar, who bowled only two overs, finishing with 2/7 (2). Harpreet Brar, Ramandeep Singh, Sanvir Singh and Gourav Choudhary all took 2 wickets each to help Punjab top the Elite C group with 20 points.

Baroda debutant replaces Jitesh Sharma in style

Roped in as Jitesh Sharma's replacement in the Baroda squad after the main keeper left for India duties, Amit Pasi broke the shackles and scored the highest score for a debutant in SMAT history, scoring 114(55) with 10 fours and 9 sixes to guide his team to 220/5 vs Services.

Valiant 51(29) from Kuwar Pathak and 51(32) from Ravi Chauhan went in vain as the Baroda bowlers held their nerves and restricted services for 207/8 in 20 overs.

Sai Sudharsan's ton avoids Tamil Nadu's relegation

The relegation-threatened Tamil Nadu went into their final league game with all to play for, having already been knocked out of the competition as they only managed two wins in their initial 6 games. Thanks to Ragupathy Silambarasan's 3/30 (4) and Esakkimuthu A's 2/29 (4), they restricted Saurashtra to 183/8 in 20 overs. Vishvaranjsinh Jadeja scored 70 (39) while Sammar Gajjar added 66(42) from the middle order.

While chasing the target, the target Sai Sudharsan kept losing his partners, and TN found themselves 29/3 and soon 139/6 with 4.2 overs left. Sunny Sandhu played an impactful cameo of 30(9) and got them back in the momentum, while Sai Sudharsan hit the winning boundary to complete his unbeaten 55-ball-101 with 10 fours and four sixes at his IPL home ground, and they registered their 3rd win.

Which teams have qualified for the SMAT 2025 knockout stage?

The following are the two groups, which will contest in the Super League Round, followed by the final between table-toppers, after they are done facing the three teams of their group in the Supe League.

Other notable performances

• Yash Thakur vs Andhra: 4/22 (4)
• Mohammed Shami vs Haryana: 4/32 (4)
• Rahul Tripathi vs Goa: 83*(44)
• Nitish Rana vs Uttarakhand: 51(29)
• Auqib Nabi vs Madhya Pradesh: 3/19 (4)
• Lone Nasir Muzaffar vs Madhya Pradesh: 2/14 (4)
• Yash Dhull vs Uttarakhand: 52(37)
• V Koushik vs Maharashtra: 3/20 (4)
• Jalaj Saxena vs Goa: 3/22 (4)
• Robin Minz vs Rajasthan: 58*(27)
• Virat Singh vs Rajasthan: 69(36)
• Sushant Mishra vs Rajasthan: 3/21 (3.2)
• Amandeep Khare vs Railways: 78*(47)
• Mangal Mahrour vs Uttar Pradesh: 3/12 (4)
• Prince Yadav vs Bihar: 3/24 (4)
• Sadak Hussain vs Kerala: 4/19 (3.4)
• Arinav Choudhary vs Kerala: 2/15 (4)
• Satyanarayana Raju vs Vidarbha: 4/26 (4)
• Jagjit Singh vs Hyderabad: 3/36 (4) & 12*(6)
• Mayank Dagar vs Pondicherry: 1/24 (4) and 22 (14)
• Adil Ayub Tunda vs Himachal Pradesh 3/24 (4)
• Jayant Yadav vs Himachal Pradesh: 2/18 (4)

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