Yusuf Pathan's savage 21 in the Super Over over guided Baroda to a win over Karnataka in the all-India T20 tournament for the Mushtaq Ali Trophy, at the Cricket Club of India, here on Friday.
The teams had tied at 167 after 20 overs in the opening pre-quarterfinal tie, resulting in the Super Over to identify the winner. Yusuf slammed two sixes and two fours off six balls from Abhimanyu Mithun, whose over cost 22 runs. In reply, Robin Uthappa and Bharat Chipli could just manage seven runs in the over bowled by Murtuza Vahora.
Vahora had earlier whacked 45 (21b, 6x4, 2x6) at number nine and piloted Baroda's chase. Pathan had lasted 11 balls for nine runs and then watched as his teammate turned the match around from 119 for eight to 167, aided by some clean hitting by top-scorer Aditya Waghmode (52, 33b, 8x4).
Karnataka, defending 167 for six, chose Mithun to send down the final over with Baroda 12 runs away from victory. Vahora and Munaf Patel stole 11 runs, putting the fielders under pressure, a fumble on the final ball resulting in two runs to leave the scores tied.
Full tosses were the theme of the day for bowlers. Bharat Chipli (60, 43b) and Manish Pandey lost wickets to full tosses, while Robin Uthappa top-edged for wicketkeeper Pinal Shah to scamper to the square-leg umpire and complete a diving catch. Stuart Binny swatted sixes over long-off for a forceful 33 off 22 balls.
Pandey's sharp catching at long-on helped Karnataka remain in front as Baroda slumped from 69 for three in 10 overs to 119 for six by the 15th over. Then Vahora sparked the fight-back with his bold batting.
Punjab cruises
Later, Punjab clinched a quarterfinal place with an easy nine-wicket win over Assam. Facing 116 to win, opener Sarul Kanwar (47 n.o., 24b) and Gurkirat Mann (62 n.o., 38b) took the team home in 11 overs. Opener Dhiraj Jadhav was Assam's top scorer with 48 off 52 balls.
The scores: Karnataka 167 for six in 20 overs (Robin Uthappa 21, Bharat Chipli 60, Stuart Binny 35, Abhijit Karambelkar three for 31, Bhargav Bhatt two for 39) lost to Baroda 167 for nine in 20 overs (Aditya Waghmode 52, Murtuza Vahora 45, Ambati Rayudu 19, Abhimanyu Mithun three for 36, Anirudha Joshi three for 23) via Super Over (22-7).
Assam 116 for nine (Dhiraj Jadhav 48, S.S. Roy 27, Mandeep Singh three for 22) lost to Punjab 118 for one in 11 overs (Sarul Kanwar 47 n.o., Gurkirat Mann 62 n.o.) by nine wickets.
