Unstoppable Abhishek keeps Punjab on top; Mumbai and Kerala off to perfect start

The 2023 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy got underway last Monday and most of the teams have played five rounds of matches so far. There have been plenty of exciting performances and records broken, including one that was long-standing and rather iconic. Let's look at how the first week of the tournament has gone down:

Punjab began the season like they ended the last - with a defeat to Saurashtra, but have since been dominant in in Ranchi, racking up four wins on the trot to go top of Group C. Abhishek Sharma has been at the heart of Punjab's hot streak, with his 112 off 51 deliveries, along with Anmolpreet Singh's 26-ball 87 powering them to a mammoth total of 275 for 6 against Andhra in their next game. This is the highest team total in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history, going past Mumbai's 258 for 4 against Sikkim in 2019.

Abhishek went on to hit 82 off 38 as Punjab racked up another 200-plus total against Railways in another resounding win before smashing 53 off 26 in their chase of 94 against Manipur.

Abhishek made another score of 112 - this time off 56 deliveries against Gujarat, and is leading the run charts.

Railways' Ashutosh Sharma broke Yuvraj Singh's record for fastest T20 fifty by an Indian off just 11 deliveries in their win against Arunachal Pradesh.

On any other day, Upendra Yadav's unbeaten 103 off 51 from No. 4 would have been the highlight of the day, but Ashutosh stole the show, smashing eight sixes and a solitary four in an innings that lasted 12 deliveries. He now has the record for the second-fastest fifty in all T20s.

In this season's best bowling display so far, medium pacer Ravi Teja ran through Chhattisgarh to finish with figures of 6 for 13 as Hyderabad bowled their opponents out for 97 in Jaipur. It was also his first five-wicket haul in T20s. Hyderabad eventually got there in 16 overs without much difficulty.

Defending champions Mumbai got off to the perfect start, winning all five of their matches to be top of Group A. They had a close encounter against Baroda, but all of their other wins were quite comfortable. Yashasvi Jaiswal has shown good form for them, hitting two half-centuries. Hyderabad and Baroda are hot on their heels, though, with four wins each.

Kerala have also had a perfect start to their campaign, with centuries from Vishnu Vinod and Rohan Kunnummal the highlights of their five wins on the trot. Services nearly spoiled their party in their second game but Kerala managed to eke out a one-run victory. Himachal, with 16 points, are in second place in Group B, while Riyan Parag's four consecutive half-centuries in Mumbai have helped Assam stay in contention with 12 points along with Chandigarh and Odisha.

Both Punjab and Goa have 16 points and occupy the top two positions in Group C, although Punjab have a much superior net run rate. Saurashtra, Gujarat, Andhra and Railways all have 12 points each and are right behind the two leading teams.

Vidarbha, with four wins in four, lead Group D, despite having played a game less than Bengal, who sit in second place with 12 points. Jharkhand are third, also with 12 points, and they too have played one fewer game than Bengal.

Delhi had a game washed out, but won all of their other four matches and lead Group E. With 18 points in the bag, they have a huge lead over Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, who have 10 points each.