Solanki stars as Baroda stun Haryana by 8 wickets

Vishnu Solanki helped Baroda pull off a last-over heist against Haryana with a sensational 71, which included a six off game's final ball, to fire his team into semifinals of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Wednesday.

Baroda first restricted Haryana to 148/7 in third quarterfinal, and n it was Solanki, who hammered four fours and five sixes in his 46-ball unbeaten kck to get his team over line after 18 runs were needed off final over.

Haryana h brought down equation to 23 off 12 balls for Baroda and ir skipper Mohit Sharma (0/30) conceded only five runs in penultimate over to make equation tougher for Baroda. However, 28-year-old Solanki h or plans and took on medium pacer Sumit Kumar (1/37) in final over, hitting two sixes and a four, to script an eight-wicket win for his team. right-handed batsman fittingly finished game with a six, a helicopter shot on final ball to seal game with Baroda needing five runs off final ball.

Earlier put into bat at Sardar Patel Stium, Haryana lost opener Guntashveer Singh (1) early. Soon it became 25/2 after or opener Chaitanya Bishi (21) also fell cheaply.

However, Himanshu Rana (49 off 40 balls) and Shivam Chauhan (35 off 29 balls) rallied innings with ir 80-run third-wicket stand. While Chauhan hammered three fours and a six, Rana’s kck was laced with seven boundaries. However, in 15th over, pacer Atit Sheth (1/27) broke stand after Chauhan gave a sitter to Vishnu Solanki.

Rana also threw his wicket in 16th over, as Haryana slumped to 115/4.

bowlers did well to restrict Haryana below 150-run mark despite a 16-ball unbeaten 20 from Sumit. For Baroda, off-spinner Kartik Kake (2/7) was pick of bowlers.

Chasing 149, Baroda lost opener Smit Patel (21) early as he became spinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s (1/15) only victim.

Kedar Devdhar (43 off 40 balls; 2x4. 2x6) and Solanki ded 68-runs for second wicket as y took game deep. duo initially took time to settle, but n changed gears.

However, Sumit Kumar broke stand by dismissing Devdhar. Solanki n took onus on himself and took ir side home in company of Abhimanyu Singh Rajput (13 t out).

Brief Scores: Haryana 148/7 (Himanshu Rana 49, Shivam Chauhan 35; Kartik Kake 2/7, Atit Sheth 1/27) lost to Baroda 150/2 (Vishnu Solanki 71 t out, Kedar Devdhar 43, Yuzvendra Chahal 1/15) by 8 wickets.