Baroda won the Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 final with sharp bowling in the death overs, aided by catches in the deep, to throttle Uttar Pradesh’s chase.
Defending a low 144 at the Wankhede stadium, Baroda’s experienced Munaf Patel (4-0-25-1) and talented Lukman Meriwala (4-0-31-3) induced panic in the rival ranks and the chase fell three runs short at 141 for seven.
Abhijit Karambelkar triggered UP’s collapse with two catches on the long-on fence. He had a hand in removing top-scorer Prashant Gupta (116-2 in 16.4 overs) and then ended Umang Sharma’s ambitions with a running catch from long-on to his left. Left-arm pacer Meriwala was named ‘best player’ for his three wickets and skill in keeping the batsmen quiet in the slog overs.
Praveen Kumar faced the final over when his team was on the threshold of victory, 11 runs from six balls and four wickets in hand. Praveen shot himself in the foot with three dot balls off Rishi Arothe’s over. He missed the first and third with wild swings, hit the second back to the bowler. After a single off the fourth, Upendra Yadav swung a straight six off the fifth and lost his wicket in the final ball.
UP slipped to defeat from a dominant position during the chase when opener Gupta (68 off 53 balls) and Eklvya Dwivedi (56 off 47 balls) were at work. Both rotated the strike, found gaps in the field and cleared the ropes when given width.
The second wicket pair wrested the initiative from Baroda when Karambelkar took centre-stage pouching his first skier.
The fielder celebrated with a long run from his position on the ropes up to the bowler, howling in delight. UP was unaware that Gupta’s exit would trigger more shocks.
The scores: Baroda: Kedhar Devdhar c Dagar b Prashant Gupta 26, Aditya Waghmode c Dagar b Ali Murtuza 42, Shatrunjay Gaekwad run out 6, Hardik Pandya c Akshdeep b Praveen Kumar 22, Abhijit Karambelkar c Amit Mishra b Ali Murtuza 9, Krunal Pandya c Akshdeep b Praveen Kumar 10, Kamran Shaikh c Akshdeep b Amit Mishra 4, Pinal Shah (not out) 9; Extras (lb-10, w-6): 16; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 144.
Fall of wickets: 1-80, 2-83, 3-92, 4-118, 5-122, 6-132, 7-144.
UP bowling: Praveen Kumar 4-0-24-2, Amit Mishra 4-0-28-1, Ali Murtuza 4-0-22-2, Praveen Gupta 4-0-34-0, Akshdeep Nath 1-0-10-0, Prashant Gupta 3-0-16-1.
Uttar Pradesh: Mukul Dagar c P. Shah b Hardik Pandya 3, Prashant Gupta c A. Karambelkar b Lukman Meriwala 68, Eklvya Dwivedi c Kamran b L. Meriwala 56, Rinku Gupta c K. Devdhar b Munaf Patel 0, Akshdeep Nath run out 1, Upendra Yadav c P. Shah b R. Arothe 8, Umang Sharma c Karambelkar b L. Meriwala 0, Praveen Kumar (not out) 1; Extras (lb-2, w-2): 4; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 141.
Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-116, 3-120, 4-127, 5-132, 6-134, 7-141.
Baroda bowling: Munaf Patel 4-0-25-1, Lukman Meriwala 4-0-31-3, Hardik Pandya 4-0-30-1, Krunal Pandya 4-0-19-0, Rishi Arothe 4-0-34-1.
