Indian cricketers Nitish Rana and Ayush Badoni got involved in a heated exchange during the quarter-final game of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024-25 between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh (UP) on Wednesday, December 11. During the first innings of the match, Delhi captain Ayush Badoni was seen taking a quick single against Nitish Rana on the third ball of the 13th over.
After the completion of the run, the UP all-rounder charged towards him saying a few words. Badoni also retaliated as the duo got involved in a heated exchange. With things heating up between the two players, the umpires had to get involved and separate the two who came face-to-face with each other.
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Coming back to the match, Uttar Pradesh captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar won the toss and invited Delhi to bat first at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. The invitation was happily accepted by the Delhi openers Priyansh Arya (44 off 31) and Yash Dhull (42 off 34) who added 81 runs for the first wicket off 61 balls.
Delhi beat UP by 19 runs to qualify for semi finals
Both Arya and Dhull were dismissed in back-to-back overs by Nitish Rana (1/23, 3 overs) and Mohsin Khan respectively, which brought captain Ayush Badoni and Anuj Rawat at the crease. The duo added a quick-fire 77 runs for the fourth wicket off 39 balls, which took Delhi’s score past 160. While Badoni was dismissed for 25 (18), Rawat went on to score a blistering unbeaten 73* off 33 balls clobbering seven fours and five sixes.
Courtesy of his knock, Delhi posted a massive score of 193/3 in their allotted 20 overs. In reply, UP lost wickets at regular intervals during their chase, however, Priyam Garg’s knock of 54 (34) kept them in the hunt. They eventually finished their innings on 174 in their allotted 20 overs and lost the match by 19 runs. Prince Yadav was the pick of the bowlers for Delhi with figures of 3/36 in four overs.
Anuj Rawat was awarded Player of the Match for his breathtaking knock as Delhi stormed into the semi-finals where they will take on Madhya Pradesh at the same venue on December 13. On the other hand, Baroda and Mumbai will lock horns in the first semi-final on the same day.
