Pandya helps Baroda beat Mumbai in West Zone T20 League

Riding on Hardik Pandya’s unbeaten 82, Baroda defeated Mumbai by 19 runs in the Twenty20 zonal league (west zone) match at the Wankhede Stadium here today. Baroda posted 144 for five after being asked to bat and Pandya shaped the innings by smashing six fours and three sixes in his 57-ball 82. The other noteworthy contributors were the Pathan brothers —skipper Yusuf and Irfan Pathan— with both scoring 13 each. Yusuf scored his runs in 16 balls without any boundaries while Irfan struck a six in his 11-ball knock. Irfan was given a reprieve when he was dropped on 2 by Shoaib Shaikh off Zaheer Khan but couldn’t capitalise on it. [caption id=“attachment_1458729” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of Irfan Pathan. Reuters[/caption] In reply, Mumbai kept losing wickets at regular intervals and fell short of the target at 125 for 8 in their 20 overs. Opener Aditya Tare top scored with a 19-ball 24 (3x4) while Sujit Nayak later chipped with an unbeaten 20 off 14 balls and his innings comprised a four and a six. Pacer Munaf Patel scalped three wickets while giving away 24 runs, while Lukman Meriwala and Krunal Pandya bagged two each. For Mumbai, Dhawal Kulkarni, Suryakumar Yadav, Prathamesh Dhake, Pravin Tambe and Abhishek Nayar got a wicket apiece. Brief Scores: Baroda:144 for 5 (Hardik Pandya 82 not out) beat Mumbai 125 for 8 (Aditya Tare 24, Sujit Nayak 20; Munaf Patel 3 for 24, Lukman Meriwala 2 for 16, Krunal Pandya 2 for 16). PTI