NEW DELHI: Veteran Ajinkya Rahane blazed his way to a stunning 56-ball 98, powering Mumbai to Syed Mushtaq Ali final in Bengaluru on Friday.
Rahane’s sizzling knock turned out to be too hot to handle for Baroda in the semi-final as Mumbai chased down the 159-run target with 16 balls to spare.
Rahane, who has been going through a purple patch in this domestic season, notched up his fifth half-century of the tournament.
However, the Mumbai veteran once again missed out on a ton, falling for 98 in the penultimate ball of the 17th over.
During his breathtaking knock, Rahane oozed class, smacking all Baroda bowlers to all corners of the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Rahane’s knock, which came at a strike rate of 175 featured 11 fours and 5 gigantic sixes.
In the 8 SMAT matches, Rahane has scored 98, 84, 95, 22, DNB, 68, 52 and 13 and is currently the highest-run getter in the tournament, with a total of 366 runs.
At the 2025 IPL auction, Rahane after initially going unsold, was eventually bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for his base price of Rs 1.5 crore.
