Vishnu Solanki was the hero for Baroda in the quarter final game against Haryana when he played a majestic knock to take his team home along with some useful contributions from his captain Kedar Devdhar and Smit Patel. Haryana would be disappointed to miss out on an golden opportunity to make the semi-finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy after being in the driver’s seat for most part of the game.
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Haryana have a brilliant spin trio in the form of India’s #1 spinner in white ball cricket in Yuzvendra Chahal, Rajasthan Royal’s unsung hero in the 2020 IPL in Rahul Tewatia and Jayant Yadav. To top it all, their batsmen did a decent job in giving their bowlers a decent total to defend but Baroda batsmen were top class in their approach while chasing.
The partnership between Kedar Devdhar and Vishnu Solanki turned out to be a game defining one for Baroda. The duo added 68 runs for the 2nd wicket which proved to be the most vital phase in Baroda’s innings. The momentum shifted towards Haryana after the wicket of Kedar Devdhar but calm and collected Vishnu Solanki made sure that Baroda are winning this humdinger of a game.
Baroda needed 18 runs in the final over to qualify for semifinals and Vishnu Solanki took the onus on himself to score 17 runs all by himself to steer his team home. Baroda will be taking on Punjab in the 2nd semifinal on Friday, 29th January.
Baroda skipper Krunal Pandya had to fly home halfway through the tournament due to the demise of his father. Baroda have been struggling to fill his void and yet, they are punching above their weight to emerge successful. It is still unknown about the availability of Krunal Pandya for the semifinal game against the title favorites in Punjab.
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