Top SMAT 2025-26 group stage performances: Hardik Pandya, Abhishek Sharma, and Suryavanshi headline the standout displays.
The league stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2025-26 concluded, with teams confirming their slots in the Super League stage. Mumbai and Andhra Pradesh qualified from group A, while Hyderabad and Madhya Pradesh made it from group B. From group C, Punjab and Haryana were promoted to the knockouts, while Jharkhand and Rajasthan made it from Group D.
They will now be split into two groups of four each, and the teams that will top those groups will feature in the final on December 18 in Pune. Mumbai, Hyderabad, Haryana, and Rajasthan are in the Super League group A, while Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh are in group B.
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Let’s take a look at the top five performances in the group stage of SMAT 2025-26
Ayush Badoni vs Karnataka
It was the group D clash between two heavy giants, Karnataka and Delhi, in Ahmedabad. On a good batting surface, Delhi’s captain, Nitish Rana, won the toss and decided to bat first. They lost Yash Dhull early before Ayush Badoni and Priyansh Arya put up a sensational 110-run stand for the second wicket in less than 10 overs.
Badoni notched up 53 runs in just 35 balls at a strike rate of 151.42 with four boundaries and two sixes. Meanwhile, Arya collected 62 runs with two boundaries and six sixes at a strike rate of 187.87. However, the late cracking knock of unbeaten 53 runs in 19 balls with a strike rate of 278.94 from Tejasvi Dahiya helped Delhi post 232-3 in 20 overs.
Apart from Devdutt Padikkal and Ravichandran Smaran, none of the Karnataka batters stepped up in the chase. They lost their last five wickets for seven runs and faced defeat by 45 runs. Badoni contributed with 4-12 in his two overs. Overall, the 26-year-old finished the event with 206 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 135.52.
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Hardik Pandya vs Punjab
It was Hardik Padya’s return to action since he was out of the national side with injury after the penultimate contest of the Asia Cup 2025. He turned up at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, where Baroda faced Punjab. Abhishek Sharma’s 19-ball 50 and Anmolpreet Singh’s 69 runs in 32 balls fired Punjab to 222-8. Hardik did not have a great day with the ball, finishing with expensive figures of 1-52 in four overs.
Meanwhile, Baroda went off to a flying start, thanks to the 66-run opening stand between Vishnu Solanki and Shashwat Rawat in just five overs. However, the real carnage occurred when Hardik Pandya walked to the crease at number four. He killed the game in a blink of an eye with his crazy knock of undefeated 77 runs in 42 balls. The right-handed batter collected seven boundaries and four sixes at a strike rate of 183.33.
Baroda completed the chase by seven wickets with 15 balls to spare. A week later, Hardik played a match-winning knock of 59* for India against South Africa in the opening T20I in Cuttack.
Abhishek Sharma vs Bengal
Abhishek Sharma has earned a reputation as one of the most aggressive opening batters of modern T20 cricket. He proved his skills during the clash between Punjab and Bengal in the group-stage match of SMAT 2025-26. He smashed a 12-ball half-century, which became the joint-third-fastest fifty in men’s T20 cricket.
Later, Abhishek celebrated his century in 32 balls and finished with 148 runs in 52 deliveries, decorated with eight fours and 16 sixes. Punjab posted a mountain score of 310-5 in their allotted 20 overs. On his fifth ball of the opening over, the left-arm spinner drew his first blood by picking up the wicket of Bengal’s opener Karan Lal.
Bengal’s captain, Abhimanyu Easwaran, remained unbeaten on 130 runs in the chase. But his lone effort could only carry the team to 198-9 as Punjab sealed a commanding 112-run victory.
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Devdutt Padikkal vs Tamil Nadu
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu faced off in a group-stage clash in Ahmedabad, where Karnataka got off to a strong start with a 69-run opening stand in 5.2 overs. But the situation went from bad to worse for Tamil Nadu, despite boasting a strong bowling attack featuring Sai Kishore, T Natarajan, and Varun Chakravarthy.
Devdutt Padikkal walked at number three and pocketed a great knock of unbeaten 102 runs in just 46 balls with a strike rate of 221.73, smashing 10 boundaries and six sixes. Karnataka put 246-3 on the board in their allotted 20 overs.
Tamil Nadu were bundled out for just 100 in 14.2 overs of the chase. From 91-3, they lost their last seven wickets for nine runs inside four overs. Padikkal is the fifth leading run-getter of the SMAT 2025-26 so far with 309 runs at a strike rate of 167.02. He hopes to continue the same success in the last few rounds of the competition.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi vs Maharashtra
In a short span of his career, Vaibhav Suryavanshi has already impressed with his powerful T20 batting. However, he struggled in the first few games of the SMAT 2025-26, managing low scores of 14, 13, and five. But he turned the tables against Maharashtra at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The Southpaw held his ground despite wickets tumbling at the other end, finishing unbeaten on 108 off 61 balls with seven boundaries and as many sixes to lift Bihar to 176-3. It was his third T20 century in just 18 innings, taking his tally to 701 runs at a strike rate of 204.37.
However, the score wasn’t a massive one as Maharashtra completed the chase by three wickets. Their captain, Prithvi Shaw, scored 66 runs in just 30 balls.
Apart from these five best performances, Yash Thakur’s 5-16 against Kerala in Lucknow deserves special mention. Anshul Kamboj’s consistent line and length bowling earned him figures of 4-23 against Baroda. Ishan Kishan knocked on the selector’s door with a fiery 50-ball 93-run knock against Saurashtra. On the other hand, Mumbai’s Ayush Mhatre creamed 110 runs in just 53 balls against Vidarbha.
The first round of the Super League stage of SMAT 2025-26 will begin on December 12.
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