Ishan Kishan Shines with Century in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Final
Kishan's Stellar Performance in the Final
Pune (Maharashtra) [India], December 18: In a thrilling final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2025 held at the MCA Stadium, Jharkhand's captain Ishan Kishan delivered an outstanding performance, scoring a century against Haryana. This remarkable feat makes him only the second player to achieve a hundred in a SMAT final.
Jharkhand opted to bat first but faced an early setback when Virat Singh was dismissed by Anshul Kamboj in the opening over. However, Kishan, in partnership with Kumar Kushagra, launched a fierce attack on the opposition bowlers.
Kishan reached his fifty in just 24 balls and went on to secure his sixth T20 century off 45 deliveries, hitting a six off Kamboj to mark the milestone. This achievement ties him with Abhishek Sharma for the most centuries in SMAT history, with this being his fifth overall. Notably, this was also his second century of the tournament, following an unbeaten 113 against Tripura last month.
His innings concluded at 101 runs off 49 balls when he was bowled by Sumit Kumar in the 15th over. Kishan's explosive performance included 10 sixes and six fours against Haryana.
With this century, Kishan became the first captain to score a hundred in a SMAT final, following Amolpreet Singh's 113 for Punjab against Baroda in the 2023-24 season. He also set a new record for the most sixes in a final innings of the tournament.
The wicketkeeper-batter, who has been out of favor with the Indian team since 2023, has been in exceptional form this T20 domestic season, leading the run charts with 517 runs from 10 innings at an impressive strike rate of 197.32.
With over 500 runs in this tournament, Kishan joins the elite group of players who have achieved this milestone in a single Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy season, alongside Devdutt Padikkal, Riyan Parag, and RP Kadam.
Kumar Kushagra also contributed significantly with a brisk 81 runs off 38 balls, helping Jharkhand set a formidable total of 262/3 in 20 overs against Haryana. This score is now the highest ever in a T20 tournament final, surpassing Italy's previous record of 244 against Romania in the T20 World Cup 2026 Europe Qualifier final.
It is worth noting that Kishan's last appearance for the Indian team was in November 2023 during a T20I against Australia in Guwahati, where he was dismissed for a duck. In that series, he accumulated 110 runs across three matches, averaging 36.67.