Kishan and Kushagra lead Jharkhand to SMAT glory

Ishan Kishan forced his way back into the T20I conversation with a dominant 2025-26 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign, finishing as the tournament's leading run-scorer and the most prolific six-hitter. The icing on the cake, however, was a stunning match-winning 49-ball 101 in the finale as Jharkhand beat Haryana by 69 runs in Pune to clinch their maiden T20 title.

Put in to bat, Jharkhand bludgeoned their way to 262 for 3 - the highest total ever in a T20 tournament final. The onslaught was built on a breathless 177-run second-wicket stand between Kishan and Kumar Kushagra, who smashed a 38-ball 81. Their dismissals five balls apart after the monumental partnership offered Haryana their lone moment of relief in an innings that featured a staggering 20 sixes.

In reply, Haryana lost their top three inside the powerplay but kept going as Yashvardhan Dalal and Nishant Sindhu played blinders to keep their hopes flickering. But when they both were dismissed to leave them at 104 for 5 at the halfway mark, the contest swiftly drifted into little more than a formality. Haryana were eventually bowled out in the penultimate over for 193.

Haryana had an ideal start when Anshul Kamboj had an advancing Virat Singh toe-end a lofted hit to mid-on in the first over. Thereafter, the rest of the powerplay - as well as the match - was the stuff of nightmares for Haryana. Kishan launched six sixes in the powerplay, raising the half-century stand with Kushagra off just 27 balls, as Jharkhand raced to 69 for 1.

Kishan's range of strokes were astonishing. He latched onto anything short against pace, like Kamboj found out when he was imperiously pulled in front of square. When a nervy Ishant Bhardwaj bowled full, he was tonked down the ground.

In a bid to shake things up, Haryana turned to spin early. With Yuzvendra Chahal missing due to chikungunya and dengue, the pressure of arresting the run-torrent fell on Amit Rana's right-arm everything, who only two nights ago had taken 3 for 14 in Haryana's semi-final win over Hyderabad in similar conditions.

In his very first over on Thursday, Rana was tonked down the ground twice as he pitched up to Kishan; his three overs would eventually end up costing 48. Kishan's six tally in the powerplay alone helped him surge past Salil Arora's tally of most sixes in the tournament (28).

One of the key reasons for Jharkhand's surge to the final courtesy three back-to-back half-centuries, Kushagra came into the final having missed out in his two most-recent knocks: 8 and 17 against Madhya Pradesh and Andhra respectively.

But right from his first ball, there was a keenness to take the attack to the bowlers. He stepped out to hit Sumit Kumar, one of Haryana's most-accomplished seamers, for three fours in his first over - the seventh of the innings - to ensure Jharkhand never had even an inkling of post-powerplay lull. Sumit's first two overs would cost 25.

Where Kishan was all about clean backswing and imperious pulls, Kushagra was aesthetically pleasing in playing his cover drives and was quick to pick length early to access areas behind square on both sides. A neat little help over fine leg to a short ball raised his half-century off just 29 balls.

Haryana had an opportunity to stem some damage when Kishan top-edged Sumit. Having beaten Kishan for pace with the bumper, Sumit then nearly ran across 30 yards towards square leg but couldn't hold on to the return catch. On 71 off 35 then, Kishan would soon raise his century off 47 balls before perishing.

Despite losing both Kishan and Kushagra, Jharkhand were able to sustain momentum and end up with a grandstand finish courtesy the ever-reliable Anukul Roy and Robin Minz. Anukul, whose incredible 58-ball 95 against Karnataka earlier in the group stage set the campaign up for Jharkhand, muscled 40 off 20 balls, while Minz walloped three sixes in his 14-ball 31 not out as the pair added 75 off the last 29 balls.

At 3 for 2 in the second over, Jharkhand may have hoped for a smooth sail. But Yashvardhan, the left-hander, used his long levers to unlock a sensational burst of powerplay runs to make a 19-ball half-century. Sindhu matched him stroke-to-stroke in hitting six fours in his eye-catching 31 before Anukul's change up with his left-arm spin had him holed out in the deep.

That Anukul was able to get some purchase from the surface was largely down to a 4.30pm start that greatly negated the effect of dew, ensuring toss wasn't as massive a factor as it would've been in a day-night game. Anukul aside, left-arm seamer Sushant Mishra too impressed, hitting hard-lengths and hustling batters to finish with 3 for 27. Bal Krishna, the 27-year-old, who also picked up three wickets delivered the winning moment when he dismissed fast bowler Bhardwaj to trigger wild celebrations in the Jharkhand camp.