Meet Kerala's Star Salman Nizar: The Cricket Sensation Who Led Sanju Samson's Side to Victory with an Incredible 99 Runs in Just 49 Balls against Mumbai in SMAT

In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Group E clash between Kerala and Mumbai, Captain Sanju Samson may have been dismissed for just a run-a-ball four. However, it was 26-year-old left-hander Salman Nizar who stole the show with a sensational unbeaten knock of 99 off 49 balls. Nizar's innings, which featured eight sixes and five fours, propelled Kerala to a formidable total of 234/5 in Hyderabad. Despite Ajinkya Rahane's valiant 68 off 35 balls, Mumbai could only muster 191/9 as Kerala emerged victorious by 43 runs against the defending champions.

Nizar was Born on June 30, 1997 in Thalassery, a city situated in the northern Kerala district of Kannur. His senior debut came in a 2015 Ranji Trophy match for Kerala against Assam at home. He scored 12 runs off 33 balls in Kerala's lone innings in the match. Nizar made his List A debut with a bang though. It came in the a 2017 Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Tripura and Nizar scored an unbeaten 82 in 104 balls. Kerala, however, went on to lose the match by two wickets. Nizar's T20 debut came in a match against Hyderabad in the 2018 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

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transform: rotate(32deg); animation: shinerMooving 3s infinite; z-index: 1; filter: blur(1px); } @keyframes shinerMooving { 0% { left: -40px; } 100% { left: 150%; } } Top 15 buys at IPL 2025 Auction Rishabh Pant ₹ 27 Cr DC LSG Total Match 111 Total Runs 3284 Highest Score 128 runs Shreyas Iyer ₹ 26.75 Cr KKR PBKS Total Match 115 Total Runs 3127 Highest Score 96 runs Venkatesh Iyer ₹ 23.75 Cr KKR KKR Total Match 50 Total Runs 1326 Highest Score 104 runs Wickets 3 Best Bowling 2/29 Arshdeep Singh ₹ 18 Cr PBKS PBKS Total Match 65 Total Runs 29 Highest Score 10 runs Wickets 76 Best Bowling 5/32 Yuzvendra Chahal ₹ 18 Cr RR PBKS Total Match 260 Total Runs 37 Highest Score 8 runs Wickets 205 Best Bowling 5/40 Jos Buttler ₹ 15.75 Cr RR GT Total Match 107 Total Runs 3582 Highest Score 124 runs KL Rahul ₹ 14 Cr LSG DC Total Match 132 Total Runs 4683 Highest Score 132 runs Trent Boult ₹ 12.50 Cr RR MI Total Match 104 Total Runs 83 Highest Score 17 runs Wickets 121 Best Bowling 4/18 Jofra Archer ₹ 12.50 Cr MI RR Total Match 35 Total Runs 195 Highest Score 27 runs Wickets 46 Best Bowling 3/15 Josh Hazlewood ₹ 12.50 Cr RCB RCB Total Match 12 Total Runs - Highest Score - Wickets 12 Best Bowling 3/24 Mohammed Siraj ₹ 12.25 Cr RCB GT Total Match 93 Total Runs 109 Highest Score 14 runs Wickets 93 Best Bowling 4/21 Mitchell Starc ₹ 11.75 Cr KKR DC Total Match 41 Total Runs 105 Highest Score 29 runs Wickets 51 Best Bowling 4/15 Phil Salt ₹ 11.50 Cr DC RCB Total Match 21 Total Runs 653 Highest Score 89 runs Ishan Kishan ₹ 11.25 Cr MI SRH Total Match 105 Total Runs 2644 Highest Score 99 runs Wickets - Best Bowling - Jitesh Sharma ₹ 11 Cr PBKS RCB Total Match 40 Total Runs 730 Highest Score 49 runs Check Full Coverage

Nizar has played 25 T20Is and scored 413 runs, with Thursday's 99 not out being his career-best. He holds a career strike rate of 147.50 and averages 51.62 with two half-centuries. Nizar has also played 27 first class matches and scored 1051 runs with a career-best of 95 not out. He has a first class average of 33.90 and has scored six half-centuries. In the 20 List A matches he has played, Nizar has scored 389 runs at an average of 25.93 with two half-centuries.

Nizar and Kunnummal lead Kerala to victory

On Thursday against Mumbai, Nizar walked in when Sachin Baby had to leave the field retired hurt. Kerala were in a tricky position, having lost two wickets and Baby for just 49 runs. Nizar went on to put up a ballistic 131-run stand with opener Rohan Kunnummal, who scored 87 off 48 balls. Mumbai's most experienced international bowler Shardul Thakur bore the brunt of the onslaugh, conceding 69 runs in four overs after dismissing Samson early in the match.

Later, it was the out of favour Rahane who top-scored for Mumbai. Prithvi Shaw's struggles continued as he fell for 23 off 13 balls while captain Shreyas Iyer, who had held the record for most expensive buy of all time at the recently held 2025 IPL auction before being eclipsed by Rishabh Pant just minutes later, scored 32 in 18 balls. Rahane had been released by CSK last season and was signed by KKR at the 2025 auction at his base price of INR 2 crore.

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