2018–19 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
The 2018–19 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy was the eleventh edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, an annual Twenty20 tournament in India. Played from 24 March to 7 April 2015, it was contested by 37 Ranji Trophy teams, including the nine expansion teams who were introduced that season. Delhi were the defending champions. Karnataka won the 2018–19 championship, their first title.
| Dates | 21 February 2019 – 14 March 2019 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | BCCI |
| Cricket format | T20 |
| Tournament format(s) | Round robin, then knockout |
| Champions | Karnataka (1st title) |
| Participants | 37 |
| Most runs | Rohan Kadam (536) (Karnataka) |
| Most wickets | Satyajeet Bachhav (20) (Maharashtra) |
| Official website | http://www.bcci.tv |
The tournament had five groups, with three groups containing seven teams and two groups with eight teams. The top two teams in each group qualified for the Super League section of the tournament, with the teams split into two further groups of five teams. The top two teams, one from each of the Super League groups, progressed to the final.
In the opening round fixture between Mumbai and Sikkim, Mumbai's Shreyas Iyer scored 147 runs, the highest total by an Indian batsman in a T20 match. The second round saw Andhra beat Nagaland by 179 runs, the biggest winning margin by runs in a T20 match.
Jharkhand and Delhi from Group A, Vidarbha and Gujarat from Group B, Railways and Mumbai from Group C, Karnataka and Bengal from Group D, and Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh from Group E all progressed to the Super League phase of the tournament.
In the Super League stage of the tournament, Maharashtra won Group A and Karnataka won Group B to advance to the final. With their win in their final Super League match, Karnataka won a total of thirteen consecutive T20 matches, a record for an Indian state team. Karnataka won the tournament, after beating Maharashtra by eight wickets in the final. With the victory, Karnataka equalled the record for a winning streak for an India-based team with fourteen matches, tied with the Kolkata Knight Riders.