The Mumbai captain recorded his highest score in T20 cricket in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy against Haryana.
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Photo: Hotstar/BCCI
Suryakumar Yadav ensured Haryana had little control during Mumbai's match in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in their Group D fixture at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday as he led from the front to steer his side to a second straight win in the tournament.
81* of 38 balls
— Shubham Ranjane (@ssranjane7) November 9, 2019
Yet another magnificent inning by @surya_14kumar
For him #SKY is the limit i.e. he himself🙈
Well done brother❤️#SyedMushtaqAliTrophy #MUMvHAR #MushtaqAliT20 #Mumbai pic.twitter.com/ylhaUb8A9N
Having won the toss, Yadav elected to field and contained the visitors to 153/5 at the end of their innings, as Tushar Deshpande led the bowling pack with figures of 2/27 in his quota and Shubham Ranjane proving effective with an economical spell of 1/17 in his four overs.
In response, Mumbai lost their first wicket in the fourth over when they began their chase but after that Haryana didn't quite manage to get in the game as Yadav walked out to the centre.
The Mumbai captain put on 74 runs for the second wicket in just 42 balls at 10.57 per over with Aditya Tare, who struck pacer Sumit Kumar for three consecutive fours during his knock, and when the wicket-keeper was dismissed for 39 (28b, 4x4s) most of the damage had been done as the score stood at 100/2 in 10.4 overs.
The 29-year-old Yadav, who brought up his fifty in just 24 balls with a six over covers off leggie Amit Mishra, then forged an unbeaten 54-run stand with Siddhesh Lad, who had picked his maiden five-wicket haul the day before, in just 30 balls to secure the win by eight wickets and 4.2 overs to spare.
Mishra bore most of Yadav's assault as the 30 of the 40 runs he conceded in his three overs was off the Mumbai skipper's bat, and that included three sixes.
"I have always loved playing spinners on these type of tracks," Yadav said. "Only one thing was running in my mind, that let's not allow him to stay on top, let's stay on top (instead).
"Whenever you get an opportunity, let's attack. Try and score as many as you can against him. He is their captain and senior player. So I thought I'll try and take some runs off him," he explained.
Yadav, captain of the Triumph Knights Mumbai North East in T20 Mumbai, remained unbeaten on 81 off just 38 balls, helped by 11 fours and 3 sixes, at a strike rate of 213.15 and registered his highest score in T20 cricket, eclipsing the 80 he scored against Punjab earlier this year.
Mumbai have won their first two matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, with their next fixture slated for Monday against Madhya Pradesh.
