With no buzz having been created locally, the Dadoji Konddev Stadium had just a handful of spectators, including a few promising cricketers. All of them witnessed a thrilling start to the Vijay Hazare Trophy Group E proceedings, thanks to Punjab and Baroda.
The clash turned out to be an even more exciting affair than the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final earlier this month between the same two sides. Baroda defended a moderate total of 214 to snatch a win by the narrowest of margins.
The three-run win — with Atit Sheth bowling a perfect yorker to dismiss Siddharth Kaul off the last ball of the penultimate over — also gave Baroda some solace after ending up on the losing side in the SMAT final.
Had it not been for Kaul’s (47, 50b, 2x4, 3x6) knock and his late fightback with Harpreet Brar (23, 51b, 3x4), Baroda may well have won by a big margin. When Kaul, the pacer, joined Brar at the crease, Punjab was reeling at 146 for eight. The target of 215 appeared a distant dream then.
But Kaul’s huge six over long-on off Baba Shahi Pathan in the 39th over, which fetched 16 runs, gave Punjab a glimmer of hope. With the required run-rate under check, Kaul opened up his arms sparingly while Harpreet held an end up.
The 49-run association was broken by offie Mahesh Pithiya, who managed to breach Harpreet’s defence in the 46th over. With 20 runs remaining, the onus was on Kaul to finish the game off for his team. However, Sheth — who had accounted for Anmolpreet Singh and skipper Mandeep Singh in successive overs earlier — gave Baroda a famous win.
Earlier in the morning, Baltej Singh used the favourable conditions to break the back of Baroda’s top order. The lanky pacer — who was bowled out in the 30th over — picked up two wickets each in his two spells to leave Baroda reeling. Had it not been for captain Krunal Pandya’s fine knock and Shivalik Sharma’s fifty at No. 7, Baroda would have struggled to cross the 200-run mark.
