All-round Mumbai go past MP by 5 wickets to clinch Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
Bengaluru, Dec 15: Mumbai leaned on their collective batting strength to subdue a spirited Madhya Pradesh by five wickets to clinch the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Sunday.
Mumbai were stretched on more than one occasion during the chase of 175, a target MP built around skipper Rajat Patidar's fluent unbeaten 81, on a slightly tacky pitch, but eventually they reached 180 for five in 17.5 overs.
This was Mumbai's second SMAT title after winning it for the first time in 2022, while MP's wait for a maiden trophy prolonged to another season.
After a brief period of lull, Suryakumar Yadav (48, 35b, 4x4, 3x6) reactivated his run-making ways and added 52 runs for the third wicket with Ajinkya Rahane (37, 30b, 4x4).
It helped Mumbai to recover from the early dismissals of Prithvi Shaw and skipper Shreyas Iyer, both of them falling to rather causal shots.
Just when it seemed that the two veteran batters would carry Mumbai home, Rahane slashed Venkatesh Iyer straight into the hands of Rahul Batham at deep.
Suryakumar followed soon, top-edging off-spinner Shivam Shukla to Avesh Khan at short fine leg.
At 129 for five in 14.4 overs, Mumbai needed 46 runs but any worries were soon eased by the big-hitting Suryansh Shedge (36 not out, 15b, 3x4, 3x6) and Atharva Ankolekar (16 not out, 6b, 2x6) who knocked off the remaining runs without much fuss in a little over three overs.
Earlier, Patidar shone brightly while hammering his fifth fifty of this tournament.
The right-hander, who was retained by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, entertained an over 15,000-crowd, who backed him and MP to the hilt, with twinkling shot-making.
In fact, Patidar singlehandedly held the MP innings together as the next highest was a 23 by Shubhranshu Senapati.
Madhya Pradesh had made a rather sedate beginning to their innings after losing openers Arpit Gaud (3) and Harsh Gawli (2).
They reached 38 for two in the Power Play, which later transpired to 114 for five in 15 overs.
However, Patidar found an able ally in Batham (19, 14b) as they added 56 runs for the sixth wicket as MP added 60 runs in the last five overs.
Patidar, a clean-striker of the balls, too upped the level of his play, as indicated by a stunning walk-across-the-line six off pacer Shardul Thakur.
But individual brilliance was not enough to stop the Mumbai juggernaut on the night.
Brief scores:
Madhya Pradesh: 174/8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 81 not out, Subhranshu Senapati 23; Shardul Thakur 2/41, Royston Dias 2/32) lost to
Mumbai: 180/5 in 17.5 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 48, Ajinkya Rahane 37, Suryansh Shedge 36 not out; Tripuresh Singh 2/34) by 5 wickets.
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Delhi court sentences Haryana gangster Vikas Gulia, associate to life imprisonment
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court has sentenced Haryana gangster Vikas Gulia and his associate to life imprisonment under MCOCA provisions, but refused the death penalty saying the offences did not fall under the category of 'rarest of the rare cases'.
Additional Sessions Judge Vandana Jain sentenced Gulia and Dhirpal alias Kana to rigorous imprisonment for life under Section 3 (punishment for organised crime) of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
In an order dated December 13, the judge said, "Death sentence can only be awarded in 'rarest of the rare cases' wherein the murder is committed in an extremely inhumane, barbarous, grotesque or dastardly manner as to arouse umbrage of the community at large."
The judge said that on weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, it could be concluded that the present case did not fall under the category, and so, the death penalty could not be imposed upon the convicts.
"Thus, both the convicts are sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs 3 lakh each, for committing the offence under Section 3 of MCOCA," she said.
The public prosecutor, seeking the death penalty for both the accused, submitted that they were involved in several unlawful activities while they were on bail in other cases.
He argued that the accused had shown no respect for the law and acted without any fear of legal consequences, and therefore did not deserve any leniency from the court.
The court noted that both convicts were involved in offences of murder, attempt to murder, extortion, robbery, house trespass, and criminal intimidation. Besides, they had misused the liberty of interim bail granted to them by absconding.
It said, "The terror of the convicts was such that it created fear psychosis in the mind of the general public, and they lost complete faith in the law enforcement agencies and chose to accede to the illegal demands of convicts. Despite suffering losses, they could not gather the courage to depose against them."
The court noted that Gulia was involved in at least 18 criminal cases, while Dhirpal had links to 10 serious offences.
It underlined that MCOCA had been enacted "keeping in view the fact that organised crime had come up as a serious threat to society, as it knew no territorial boundaries and is fuelled by illegal wealth generated by committing the offence of extortion, contract killings, kidnapping for ransom, collection of protection money, murder, etc."
Both accused persons had been convicted on December 10 in a case registered at Najafgarh police station. The police filed a chargesheet under Section 3 (punishment for organised crime) and 4 (punishment for possessing unaccountable wealth on behalf of member of organised crime syndicate) of MCOCA.
