Mumbai, Mar 16: Baroda beat Karnataka in the Super Over of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy pre-quarter-final to enter the quarter-finals of the domestic T20 competition.
Murtuza Vahora, who had a bad day with the ball earlier, conceding 42 runs without claiming a wicket, fought back to score an unbeaten 45 that took the match into the Super Over. Defending 22 runs, Vahora claimed Bharat Chipli, while giving away just seven runs in the over to win the match for Baroda.
Earlier, after Baroda opted to field first, Munaf Patel removed Karnataka skipper Robin Uthappa for 21, ending the opening partnership for 37 runs. S Ganesh was the next to depart after hitting the ball back to Bharghav Bhatt. The left-arm spinner got a wicket off the first delivery after being brought back into the attack from the opposite end. But opener Bharat Chipli, who had brought up Karnataka’s fifty with a boundary in the seventh over, continued to milk the Baroda bowlers and reached his own fifty off 38 balls. One delivery after the team from the south reached the 100-run mark, Chipli departed for 60 while attempting to pull Abhijit Karamblekar in the 11th over.
Stuart Binny then joined Manish Pandey at the crease, but nine runs later, the latter was sent back by Karambelkar. Although the bowler went for runs, including a couple of boundaries by Binny in the next over, he claimed the wicket of Anirudha Joshi to finish with three scalps in the game. Binny, who was caught at mid-wicket off Bhatt in the penultimate over, had hit two sixes off Vohra during his 22-ball 33-run cameo. However, in the same over, Raju Bhatkal hit Bhatt over the sight-screen and was unbeaten on 17 (off 14) as Karnataka set a 168-run target for Baroda.
Defending 167, Abhimanyu Mithun claimed the wicket of Kedar Deodhar off the second ball of the innings. The opener departed nicking the ball to the wicketkeeper without a run on the board. In his next over, the tall medium-pacer sent back Monil Patel for nine. Yusuf Pathan, who replaced him, followed him back to the dressing room after adding just nine runs, bringing to the crease another big-hitter, Ambati Rayudu, to join Aditya Waghmode.
With 99 required from 60 balls, the pressure was mounting on Baroda as Karnataka kept picking wickets at regular intervals. Rayudu was the next to depart, caught by Manish Pandey on the boundary off Ronit More. With 87 required off 51 deliveries with six wickets in hand, Pinal Shah walked in to bat, but the Baroda skipper was bowled by Joshi in the next over.
Opener Waghmode reached his 50 and took Baroda to 100 but was run out shortly. Karamblekar, too, was run out in the following over and KP Appana followed up with the wicket of Swapnil Singh.
The tail-enders, however, were not willing to give up without a fight. With 49 required off 25, lower-order batsmen Bhatt and Murtuza added 24 runs off 10 balls for the ninth wicket before Bhatt was caught by Joshi off Mithun.
With Baroda requiring 12 off six balls, and Murtuza and Munaf determined to make a match of it, Uthappa handed the ball to his lead medium-pacer, Mithun. With nine required off two balls, Murtuza hit Mithun over the ropes and Baroda required three off one to win. The batsman then took two off the last ball as the fielder fumbled to collect the ball and throw it back. Murtuza, who had failed with the ball today, scored (45* off 21) to tie the scores and take the match into the Super Over.
Super Over: Batting first, Y Pathan (21*, 2x4, 2x6) and Rayudu scored 22 off Mithun’s over to set Karnataka a tall target.
Chasing 23 runs, Karnataka skipper Uthappa and Chipli came out to face Vahora. After Chipli was sent back off the first ball, Manish Pandey came out to bat. However, Karnataka were 15 run short of the target.
Brief scores: Karnataka 167/6 in 20 overs (B Chipli 60, S Binny 33, A Karamblekar 3/31, B Bhatt 2/39); Baroda167/9 in 20 overs (A Waghmode 52, M 45*, A Joshi 3/23, A Mithun 3/36 )
