SMAT 2025 Final: Captain Kishan’s blistering century leads Jharkhand to maiden title

Ishan Kishan offered glimpses of his brilliance throughout the tournament, but saved his best for the last. Leading from the front with a 49-ball-101, he toyed with the Haryana bowlers and eventually guided Jharkhand to its maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title, with a 69-run victory.

As fans turned up in large numbers at the MCA Stadium on Thursday, Ishan entertained them with his aggressive batting, hitting Haryana bowlers all around the park.

Despite losing opener Virat Singh early, Ishan ensured that Jharkhand didn’t lose the plot. Making the optimum use of a flat deck, he unsettled the Haryana bowlers from the start, and forged a 177-run partnership with the young Kumar Kushagra (81, 38b, 8×4, 5×6) as Jharkhand put up 262 for three.

Coming with an objective of maximising the Powerplay, both Ishan and Kushagra dealt in fours and sixes as Jharkhand managed to score 69 runs.

With the national selectors watching the game, Ishan accelerated with a couple of sixes off Parth Vats, before going after Anshul Kamboj. He hit Kamboj for a couple of boundaries and a one-handed six over cover in the 14th over to become the only second batter, after Anmolpreet Singh, to score a century in the final of the SMAT.

Though Sumit Kumar knocked him over with a yorker in the next over, and Kushagra, too, fell shortly, Jharkhand was already nearing the 200-run mark. As Haryana dropped a few catches, Anukul Roy — who was named Player-of-the-Series — and Robin Minz’s unbroken 75-run stand ensured that Jharkhand scored the highest-ever total in the final of the tournament.

ALSO READ: Full list of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy winners after Jharkhand’s SMAT 2025 triumph

Pursuing a mammoth total, Haryana was never in the game. Ankit Kumar, who had a dream run in the tournament, fell to seamer Vikash Singh for duck on the third ball of the innings, while Ashish Siwach was dismissed without scoring as well.

Haryana couldn’t recover and lost wickets in clusters. Nishant Sindhu and Yashvardhan Dalal added 67 runs for the fourth wicket, before left-arm spinner Anukul removed both. With that, Haryana’s hopes were dashed.

The evening, however, belonged to Ishan.

Out of the India reckoning since 2023, the wicketkeeper-batter, who amassed 517 runs in the tournament, couldn’t control his emotions as he celebrated the historic victory with team-mates. As the players got into a huddle, former cricketers, Saurabh Tiwary and Shahbaz Nadeem, who are now administrators at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association, too, joined in to bask in the glory.

After years of struggle, Jharkhand finally broke its title jinx and its captain Ishan served as a timely reminder to the national selectors, who are scheduled to meet in Mumbai on Saturday, to pick India’s squad for the T20 World Cup.

Published on Dec 18, 2025