Ayush Mhatre breaks Rohit’s record, guides Mumbai to win | Lucknow News
Lucknow: Mumbai opener Ayush Mhatre became the youngest batter to score centuries in all three domestic formats. Mhatre struck an unbeaten 110 to help Mumbai register a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over Vidarbha in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy on Friday at Ekana Stadium’s B ground. The 18-year-old Mhatre had scored a hundred in the Ranji Trophy earlier this season, followed by a three-figure innings in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and on Friday slammed one in the T20 tournament to surpass the record of Rohit Sharma, who had achieved centuries in all three domestic formats at 19 years and 339 days. Mhatre, in contrast, is just 18 years and 135 days old. Unmukt Chand, Quinton de Kock and Ahmed Shehzad had achieved the feat shortly after turning 20. Mumbai, chasing a formidable target of 193, lost Ajinkya Rahane for a duck when he was trapped leg-before by Nalkande, a setback that worsened when one-drop Hardik Tamore (1) also departed early. Surya Kumar Yadav then joined Mhatre to stitch together a superb 88-run stand off 59 balls to revive the innings before he was caught by YV Rathod off Yash Thakur at 109/3. The young Mhatre went on to smash a brilliant 110 off just 53 balls, hitting eight boundaries and eight sixes at a strike rate of 207.55. After Surya’s dismissal for 35 off 30 balls, Mhatre and Shivam Dube forged a solid 85-run partnership off only 35 balls to seal the chase. Dube remained unbeaten on 39 off 19 balls, with three fours and three sixes. Earlier, when Vidarbha batted first, India’s T20I star Surya Kumar Yadav took two brilliant catches that were the highlight of the day. The first came when YV Rathod hit a shot towards deep extra cover and SKY sprinted nearly 20 metres to complete a diving catch. Soon after, he displayed great agility to pluck a one-handed catch at square leg to dismiss Nalkande. These breakthroughs ensured Vidarbha were restricted under 200 when at one stage they were cruising towards a formidable total. They eventually finished at 192/9, which proved insufficient against Mumbai’s powerful batting. Vidarbha openers Atharva Taide and A. Mokhade smashed fine fifties and added a strong 115-run stand off 56 balls. Mokhade struck 61 off 30 balls with seven boundaries and two sixes before he was caught by Tushar Deshpande off Ankolekar at 115/1 in 9.2 overs. After his dismissal, Dhruv Shorey joined Atharva but departed quickly, trapped leg-before by Ankolekar at 117/2 in 9.5 overs. Atharva (64 off 36; 9 fours, 1 six) was caught by Ayush Mhatre off Sairaj at 145/3 in 13.2 overs. Following the opener’s dismissal, the rest of the batting collapsed, with six wickets falling in just five overs. Rathod (23) and skipper Harsh Dubey (10) tried to prop up the total, but it wasn’t enough. For Mumbai, Shivam Dube and Sairaj Patil were the pick of the bowlers with 3/31 and 3/33 respectively, while Ankolekar chipped in with two crucial wickets. Atal Bihari shines In another match at Ekana, Railways’ Atal Bihari Rai grabbed three wickets to help the team secure a 32-run win over Kerala. Assam defeated Chhattisgarh by 48 runs, and Andhra Pradesh beat Odisha by 66 runs.
