Siddharth picks four as Tamil Nadu restrict Baroda to 120/9

Left-arm spinner M Siddharth (4/20) brilliant bowling upfront enabled Tamil Nadu to restrict Baroda to 120 for 9 on a difficult track in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final here on Sunday.

It was largely due to the 58-run seventh wicket stand between Vishnu Solanki (49 off 55 balls; 1x4; 2x6) and Atit Sheth (29 off 30 balls; 2x4;1x6) that Baroda after being reduced to 36/6 managed a three-figure total.

Siddharth used the pitch to his advantage by varying the pace of his deliveries and also using the crease well to create awkward angles for the batsmen.

Put into bat on a Sardar Patel Stadium track that offered both turn and bounce, Baroda lost left-handed opener Ninad Rathva (1) early as the move to start with spinners from both the ends paid off for Tamil Nadu.

Rathva was caught by KB Arun Karthik off offie Baba Aparajith (1/16). Aparajith and left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore (0/11) kept things tight as Baroda was 11/1 after three overs.

In-form skipper Kedar Devdhar (16), who had hammered three boundaries, could not convert his starts and gave a sitter to Narayan Jagadeesan at cover as the wiry Siddharth picked up his first wicket.

Playing his first game of the tournament, Siddharth again did the trick and removed former colts World Cup winner Smit Patel (1), after trapping him leg before with an arm ball.

They lost their fourth wicket on the same score as Bhanu Pania (0) was run out after a mix-up. Siddharth picked his third wicket as Abhimanyusingh Rajput (2) lobbed him a return catch when the ball delivered wide off crease stopped on him.

Siddharth was on a roll, as he picked his fourth scalp, after forcing Kartik Kakade (4) to drag one back onto the stumps. Baroda slumped to 36 for 6 when Solanki and Sheth joined forces. The last four overs produced 49 runs including a helicopter shot from Solanki.