[Watch] Hardik Pandya stars with 3 wickets as Baroda beat Bengal in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024 quarterfinal

Indian cricketer Hardik Pandya continued to shine in domestic cricket, claiming three wickets for Baroda in their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024 quarterfinal against Bengal. The match took place on Wednesday, December 11, at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Chasing a target of 173, Bengal had a poor start, losing four wickets for just 31 runs. Shahbaz Ahmed and Ritwik Chowdhury joined hands, adding 54 runs off 33 balls, helping Bengal fight back into the game. Hardik changed the momentum in the 10th over, dismissing Ritwik for 29 off 18 balls, leaving Bengal at 85/5.

The 31-year-old struck again in the 16th over, picking up two more wickets by removing Sakshaim Chaudhary and Mohammed Shami. Hardik finished with figures of three wickets for just 27 runs in his four overs.

Here’s the video of all the wickets taken by Hardik Pandya:

Shahbaz was the only significant contributor for Bengal, scoring 55 off 36 balls, including three boundaries and four sixes. However, he lacked support from the other end, and Bengal were bowled out for 131 in 18 overs.

In addition to Hardik, Lukman Meriwala and Atit Sheth also took three wickets each, leading Baroda to a 41-run victory.

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Decent continuation from the openers helps Baroda post a respectable total on the board

Asked to bat first, Baroda openers Shashwat Rawat (40 off 26 balls) and Abhimanyu Singh (37 off 34 balls) put on a solid 90-run partnership off 59 balls for the first wicket. However, the Pandya brothers, skipper Krunal (7) and Hardik (10) failed to make an impact with the bat.

Shivalik Sharma (24) and Bhanu Pania (17) provided useful contributions before Vishnu Solanki provided a late flourish, and remained unbeaten on 16 off seven balls. Baroda finished their innings at 172/7 in 20 overs. Mohammed Shami, Kanishk Seth, and Pradipta Pramanik took two wickets each for Bengal.

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