Baroda vs Bengal

Madhya Pradesh's batsmen lead them to the SMAT semifinals. 

Hardik sprinted back from mid-off a few overs later to collect a catch and get rid of Pradipta Pramanik.

To the dismay of Krunal Pandya, Shahbaz Ahmed spearheaded the battle to keep Bengal in the chase and even made it through a controversial LBW verdict. However, Hardik returned to take two wickets in three deliveries, including the two-ball duck of Mohammed Shami, Bengal's batting hero from the previous match. Shahbaz continued to swing through the line and connect, hitting consecutive sixes to reach his half-century, but he was unable to lead his side across the finish line.

Arpit Gaud's early burst of runs (29-ball 42) and Venkatesh Iyer's calm hand (33-ball 38*) enabled Madhya Pradesh defeat Saurashtra in the quarterfinal match. Madhya Pradesh overtook the target with four balls remaining and six wickets remaining, chasing 174 for victory.Gaud adopted the offensive stance in a well-paced pursuit, and Ankur Panwar was out for a run-a-ball 11 in the last over of the powerplay. 

Tripuresh Singh hit the second third ball of the innings to give MP an early lead after they choose to field. After a 31-run partnership, Prerak Mankad and Harvik Desai's brief flourish was also cut short in the Powerplay.Vishwarajsinh Jadeja and Chirag Jani's 36-run partnership gave them the much-needed foundation they needed to succeed in the second half. Rahul Batham's bouncer, which he top-edged to deep square leg, undid Jadeja.Jani unleashed his huge strokes on a wicket that moved slowly.

Rahane, however, made sure that the score remained within their grasp; it peaked at 13 in the final seven overs, and even Shivam Dube found it difficult to dismiss the spinners. But when Rahane left, Dube showed off his powerful hitting abilities and dismissed Dipesh Parwani in the eighteenth over. A match that had been fairly balanced up until that point was decided in Mumbai's favor by Suryash Shedge, who hammered 23 runs in five balls in the preceding over.In the last over, when it came down to run-a-ball, Shedge finished with a straight six down the ground.

Mumbai won the toss earlier in the day and decided to field. Karun Nair and Atharva Taide got off to a strong start. They were particularly harsh on Shardul Thakur, who was thrashed for 28 runs in his opening two overs. In just 5.1 overs, the pair amassed 60 runs before Mumbai made their first breakthrough. Despite striking twice in rapid succession, Shubham Dubey and Apoorva Wankhede made sure the mayhem went on. Before Dubey took over and blasted away to a 19-ball 43, which included hammering Mohit Awasthi for 24 runs in the last over, Taide and Wakhade accumulated 91 runs in only 8 overs.

It told the story of two Bengaluru birthday boys. Before Bengal all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed kept his team afloat with a half-century in the chase of 173, Baroda's left-arm quick Lukman Meriwala rejoiced by taking three top-order wickets in a single over. However, Baroda defeated Bengal by 41 runs to secure their spot in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy semi-finals when Shahbaz ran out of partners.Before Meriwala's fantasy over, Bengal had a solid start with 28 runs scored after three overs.

Atit Sheth increased the damage in the following over by catching a dangerous-looking Abishek Porel at mid-on for 22 off 13 balls. At that point, Shahbaz and Ritwik Roy Chowdhury stepped out together at No. 6. Chowdhury and Shahbaz counterattacked by hitting four boundaries and a six off the first nine balls of their partnership, even though they were 31 for 4 in a difficult chase.Then, in the eighth over, Shahbaz hit Sheth for six and also hit him for a boundary, then in the tenth over, Chowdhury hit Hardik Pandya for six over fine leg. 

Baroda's openers, Abhimanyusingh Rajput and Shashwat Rawat, set the foundation for their 172-run total. Rajput was riding his luck on the powerplay as they took their time settling in on a sluggish pitch. In the first over of the match, Chowdhury dropped him off Mohammed Shami at 4 (Shami would end with the costly statistics of 4-0-43-2). The umpire's ruling was then returned by Bengal's review for a not-out on-field call for lbw off Kanishk Seth, with Rajput on 16.