Mohammed Shami, the bowling lynchpin, turned up with the bat as former champions Bengal set a 160-run target for Chandigarh in their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024 preliminary quarter-final match at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Monday (December 9). (Match Blog | Streaming | Cricket News)

Still struggling to regain full fitness, the 34-year-old Shami hit an unbeaten 32 off 17 balls with the help of three fours and a couple of sixes to help salvage the Bengal innings.

The highlight reel of the knock was the final over. The 34-year-old from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh hit fellow veteran pacer Sandeep Sharma for two sixes and a four in the final over.

Shami, a quintessential number XI with a long handle, treated the motley crowd assembled at the iconic Chinnaswamy Stadium with some lusty blows. And in the process, the pacer also recorded his highest score in T20s. His previous high was 21, in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match. He has 74 runs in 110 IPL matches.

Asked to set a target in the first SMAT 2024 knock-out match, the Bengal top-order threw away wickets, and they were reeling at 21/3 in four overs. But cameos from Writtick Chatterjee (28 off 12) and Pradipta Pramanik (30 off 24), before Shami's rearguard action, helped the 2010-11 champions of India's domestic T20 champions post a fighting total.

Interestingly, Shami is yet to score in the T20 Internationals. He has faced only a couple of deliveries in 23 matches (three innings) played so far. This match is his 164th outing in T20s.

As it turned out Shami struck in the first over of the Chandigarh innings, Arslan Khan caught behind for a first-ball duck off the third ball.

The winners of the Bengal vs Chandigarh will take on Baroda in the first quarter-final at the same venue on Wednesday. The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024 knock-out matches can be watched on Sports 18 Khel. Live streaming is available on the JioCinema app and website.

Bengal vs Chandigarh Playing XIs

Bengal: Abishek Porel (wk), Karan Lal, Sudip Kumar Gharami (c), Shakir Gandhi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Agniv Pan, Writtick Chatterjee, Mohammed Shami, Pradipta Pramanik, Sayan Ghosh, Kanishk Seth.

Chandigarh: Arslan Khan, Manan Vohra (c), Shivam Bhambri, Amrit Lubana, Raj Bawa, Pradeep Yadav (wk), Bhagmender Lather, Nikhil Sharma, Jagjit Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Nishunk Birla.

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma on Sunday said that the "door is very much open" for Mohammed Shami to join the Indian team in Australia for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-24. But the India captain added that they needed to "be very careful" while handling the experienced pacer.

"We are just monitoring him because while playing Syed Mushtaq Ali, he got some swelling in his knee, which hampers his preparation to come and play a Test match," Rohit said after India's 10-wicket defeat in the second Test in Adelaide day-nighter. "We want to be very careful, we don't want to bring him here, he pulls up sore or something happens."