When Hardik Pandya walked out to bat below lights to thunderous cheers on the Holkar Stadium on Wednesday, Baroda wanted one other 101 runs from 44 deliveries with six wickets in hand in its Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy conflict towards Tamil Nadu.
It was an unbelievable ask, however there’s a purpose why Hardik is a T20 World Cup winner with greater than 100 worldwide appearances within the shortest format. He responded with a sensational onslaught, hitting 69 off 30 balls, as his staff chased down 222 with three wickets in hand off the ultimate ball of the competition.
Hardik wasn’t there proper on the shut, having been dismissed off the primary ball of the twentieth over after an excellent direct hit from Vijay Shankar at deep midwicket discovered the star all-rounder brief on the striker’s finish whereas seeking to get again for the second run. It led to wild celebrations from Tamil Nadu’s gamers who maybe thought the match was gained, however with the equation boiling right down to Baroda needing 4 runs from the ultimate supply, Atit Sheth slashed at a large ball from M. Mohammed over brief third man to make sure Hardik’s knock wasn’t in useless.
Of Hardik’s seven sixes, 4 got here in a 30-run seventeenth over bowled by left-arm seamer Gurjapneet Singh. Firstly of this over, Baroda had wanted 66 runs off 24 balls. By the tip of it, the required charge had whittled down significantly as Hardik tore into Chennai Tremendous Kings’ new acquisition.
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Tamil Nadu can nonetheless take coronary heart from its dominant batting show. Despatched in by Baroda captain Krunal Pandya, it reached its third consecutive 200-plus whole on the again of one other half-century from N. Jagadeesan. M. Shahrukh and Vijay Shankar flexed their big-hitting prowess, too, in a 75-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Even Hardik wasn’t spared on his introduction into the assault after the Powerplay. His first over went for 13 runs, his second for 11, and his third for 20, leading to untidy figures of 3-0-44-0. It, maybe, spurred Hardik to have his payback by the tip of the competition.
The scores: Tamil Nadu 221/6 in 20 overs (N. Jagadeesan 57, Vijay Shankar 42 n.o., M. Shahrukh Khan 39, Lukman Meriwala 3/41) misplaced to Baroda 222/7 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 69, Bhanu Pania 42, Varun Chakravarthy 3/43); Toss: Baroda, Factors: Tamil Nadu 0 (8), Baroda 4 (12).