Asif takes five wickets as Kerala shock defending champions Mumbai in SMAT

Lucknow, Dec 4 (PTI) A five-wicket haul by pacer KM Asif, who is having his best domestic season, helped underdogs Kerala earn a shock 15-run victory against defending champions Mumbai in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Group A match here on Thursday.

Mumbai, who suffered their first defeat in five games in the T20 tournament, though continue to lead the group with 16 points, while Kerala moved to third spot with 12 points -- the same as Andhra who are in second place -- following their third win in the five-team pool.

Kerala are marginally behind Andhra on net run rate.

The star-studded Mumbai side, led by India pacer Shardu Thakur and having the likes of national T20 skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube in their ranks, crumbled to 163 all out in 19.4 overs while chasing 179.

Kerala made 178 for five.

It was India keeper-batter Sanju Samson, who recently completed the move from Rajasthan Royals to Chennai Super Kings in the biggest deals ahead of the IPL 2026 season, who set the tone for Kerala by smashing a 28-ball 46 after opening the innings.

The Kerala skipper's blazing innings, studded with eight boundaries and a six, gave his team a flourishing start.

But two wickets in quick succession -- of Rohan Kunnummal (2) and Samson -- left the southern state struggling at 58 for 2 in the seventh over.

Samson took majority of the strike, giving his opening partner just five deliveries as the India top-order batter negotiated the star Mumbai bowlers early on.

Samson's dismissal slowed down the scoring rate as one-down batter Vishnu Vinod took 40 balls for his unbeaten 43, which included just three boundaries.

However, Vinod's 63-run stand with Mohammed Azharuddeen (32) and pacer Sharafuddeen's cameo of 35 not out off 15 balls did give Kerala a fighting total in the end.

Mumbai were off to a confident start as, after losing Ayush Mhatre (3) early, Rahane (32 off 18 balls) and Sarfaraz Khan (52 off 40 balls) were involved in an 80-run stand for the second wicket.

At 99 for three in the 12th over, the defending champions looked comfortable. But the tables turned in the 18th over bowled by Asif (5/25), who grabbed the wickets of Sairaj Patil (13), Suryakumar (32) and Shardul (0), to send Mumbai reeling at 149 for seven.

He returned to bowl the final over to take out tail-enders Shams Mulani and Hardik Tamore to end Mumbai's innings.

Lucknow has turned out to be a happy hunting ground for the 32-year-old Asif as he now has 13 wickets in four SMAT matches at the venue this season.

Brief scores: Kerala 178 for 5 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 46, Vishnu Vinod 43; Shardul Thakur 1/34, Shivam Dube 1/18) beat Mumbai 163 in 19.4 overs (Sarfaraz Khan 52, Ajinkya Rahane 32, Suryakumar Yadav 32; KM Asif 5/24, Vignesh Puthur 2/31) by 15 runs.

Assam 175 for 7 in 20 overs (Abdul Kuraishi 57, Nihar Deka 52; Yash Thakur 3/36) beat Vidarbha 117 in 17.5 overs (Mukhtar Hussain 3/36, Akash Sengupta 3/12) by 58 runs.

Chhattisgarh 158 for 6 in 50 overs (Amandeep Khare 44, Shashank Singh 46; Prithvi Raj 2/35, KV Sasikanth 2/36) lost to Andhra 159 for 2 in 18.5 overs (Ashwin Hebbar 50, Shaik Rasheed 59 not out) by 8 wickets. PTI AM AM AH AH