2017-18 Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy, day 1: Deepak Hooda and Krunal Pandya star for Baroda
The 2017-18 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 trophy got underway with a thrilling match in which Baroda beat Mumbai by 13 runs at the SCA stadium in Rajkot. After choosing to bat first, Baroda openers Kedar Devdhar and Urvik Patel put on 91 for the opening wicket before both of them got dismissed in a space of three balls after scoring a 24-ball 38 and a 28-ball 50 with the help of seven fours and two sixes respectively.
It was when Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman and Baroda skipper Deepak Hooda and Mumbai Indians all-rounder Krunal Pandya sent the Mumbai bowlers on a leather hunt as they put on a 106-run partnership for the third wicket off just 58 balls.
Hooda was dismissed in the penultimate over for a well made 66 off 39 balls with eight fours and one six while Krunal was unbeaten on a 26-ball 44 with the help of one four and three sixes.
Baroda ended their innings at 210/3 and chasing a daunting total will never be an easy task for the 41-time Ranji Trophy champions, especially after losing their captain and opening batsman Aditya Tare for a first ball duck.
Jay Bista and Siddesh Lad pulled things back by sharing a 78-run partnership for the second wicket before Bista fell for 36. Bravish followed Bista to the pavilion soon after. Kolkata Knight Riders vice-captain Suryakumar Yadav threatened to take the game away from Baroda by hitting three big sixes before he was unfortunately run-out for a 10ball 22.
Siddesh fought a lone battle for a while before he was dismissed for 82 off 51 balls with the help of six fours and four sixes. That sealed the game for Baroda but a cameo of 33 off 14 balls from Shivam Dube delayed the inevitable. Eventually, Mumbai were restricted for 197/8 with Atit Sheth and LI Meriwala taking three wickets each.
In the second match of the day, Maharashtra got the better of Gujarat by four wickets. Put into bat, Gujarat ended their innings at 151/8 in 20 overs, thanks to a late blitz from Chirag Gandhi, who remained unbeaten on a 37-ball 61. Pacer Dominic Joseph Muthuswamy was the wrecker-in-chief as he ended with figures of 4/27.
Chasing 152 to win, Maharashtra were never in the chase initially as they were reduced to 49/4 in less than nine overs. Kings XI Punjab wicketkeeper-batsman Nikhil Naik played a blinder and took his team home with three balls to spare.
Nikhil remained unbeaten on 70 off 37 balls and was backed well by PJ Bhati (23) and Dm Himganekar (15). Piyush Chawla was the pick of the Gujarat bowlers with figures of 3/27.
Brief scores:
Baroda 210/3 in 20 overs (Deepak Hooda 66, Urvik Patel 50, Krunal Pandya 44*) beat Mumbai 191/8 in 20 overs (Siddesh Lad 82, Shivam Dube 33, LI Meriwala 3/29) by 13 runs.
Gujarat 151/8 in 20 overs (Chirag Gandhi 61*, Axar Patel 38, DJ Muthuswamy 4/27) Maharashtra 154/6 in 19.3 overs (Nikhil Naik 70*, Piyush Chawla 3/27) by four wickets.