Baroda make T20 final despite loss

Baroda qualified for the final of Syed Mushtaq Ali All India Twenty20 tournament from Group B amid confusion at Wankhede stadium here on Saturday. They will meet Group A toppers Uttar Pradesh in the final here on Monday.

The West Zone champions lost their last league game to Kerala by 22 runs on Saturday here but progressed on better net run rate of +0.774 against Kerala’s +0.661. Both teams ended with 12 points.

There was confusion as how much Baroda have to score to qualify in case they lose after Kerala posted 152/6 on the board.

Baroda who got a bright start again from openers Aditya Waghmode 50 (32b, 5x5, 1x6) and Kedar Devdhar (16) huffed and puffed up the chase and left it for the last ball to surpass 127 required for qualification.

Baroda were cruising at 87/2 in the 13th over but after Waghmode got out their chase derailed completely. Krunal Pandya (22 not out) hit two sixes over midwicket in the last over before Lukman Meriwala (4) hit last ball four off Karimuttatha Rakesh to ensure Baroda qualify. Hardik Pandya chipped in with 18 runs in the middle. Slow bowlers Rakesh (3/34), Rohan Prem (2/14) and Padmanabhan Prashanth (1/15) bowled brilliantly in the middle overs. Earlier, a late charge from Raiphi Gomez 42 not out (19b, 3x4, 3x6) and Jaffer Jamal 37 (25b, 4x4, 1x6) spurred the Chandrakant Pandit coached side. BRIEF SCORES: At Wankhede: Kerala 152/6 (Raiphi Gomez 42*, Krunal Pandya 3/31) bt Baroda 130/8 (Aditya Waghmode 50, Karimuttatha Rakesh 3/34). At BKC: Delhi 144/4 ( Kshitiz Sharma 57) bt Rajasthan 137 in 19.4 overs (Arjit Gupta 72, Javed Khan 4/18, Yogesh Nagar 3/13).