JAIPUR: Showing great intent and skill, Baroda bowlers proved too good for Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) batters as the former successfully defended a below-par score of 145 to register a 19-run victory in a Group A match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023-24 at the SMS Stadium here on Monday.
Seamer Abhimanyu Singh, who was the pick of the bowlers, came as an Impact Player and bagged a four-wicket haul. He registered figures of 3-0-26-4.
Before Abhimanyu inflicted the damage after being introduced in the 15th over, Baroda captain Krunal Pandya (4-0-19-1) broke the 63-run partnership between Qamran Iqbal (37 off 30 balls) and Shubham Khajuria (29 off 24 balls) that was looking quite dangerous. Khajuria holed out to long-on in the 14th over. Opener Qamran followed him to the pavilion as he pulled it to give a catch to the fielder at mid-wicket.
At the start, fast bowlers Soyeb Sopariya (3-1-10-1) and Lukman Meriwala (4-0-25-3) gave early breakthroughs to reduce J&K to 21/2 in 5.2 overs.
Talented Abdul Samad too could not leave an impact and was one of the victims of Abhimanyu.
Earlier, made to bat first, J&K seamers made most of the morning dew and made Baroda batters’ life tough. Leading the show, Yudhvir Singh impressed with his line and length. He struck twice in the fourth over. First he dismissed opener Harsh Desai (5 off 7 balls), who played a bit too early as the ball went straight up, only to land in Yudhvir’s safe hands. Second to go was Vishnu Solanki (0 off 3 balls) who was caught plumb in front.
Baroda were 26/3 in 4.6 overs when captain Krunal along with Shivalik Sharma (46 off 37 balls) injected life in Baroda’s innings with a crucial partnership of 111. They together took the team to 137 in the 18.3 overs.
The Baroda skipper was slow at the start, but changed gears in the 16th over and went from 21 off 35 balls to 56 off 48 balls, before being caught at square-leg on a Yudhvir delivery.
In contrast, none of the J&K batters showed fight.
(AI image)
In the other three games here, Hyderabad trounced Meghalaya by nine wickets while Chhattisgarh won by 44 runs against Mizoram and Mumbai registered an eight-wicket win against Haryana.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan’s Group D match against Pondicherry in Mohali was abandoned due to rain.
