A disciplined Baroda outclassed Punjab by 25 runs in the second semifinal of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at Ahmedabad on Friday.
Batting first, Baroda paced its innings well to post 160 for three, before the bowlers cut Punjab down to 135 for eight.
Punjab fell out of contention quite early in the chase, when left-arm pacer Lukman Meriwala sent back the in-form openers Abhishek Sharma (5) and Prabhsimran Singh (15) cheaply. Left-arm spinner Ninad Rathva kept the pressure on, dismissing Anmolpreet Singh (15) and Ramandeep Singh (6).
Medium-pacer Babashafi Pathan sealed the contest when he got Gurkeerat Mann (39, 37b, 3x4, 1x6) to lob a catch to deep point. Gurkeerat
Punjab captain Mandeep Singh, hampered by a shoulder injury picked up during fielding, dropped down the order to No. 6. Though he made an unbeaten 24-ball 42, it was not enough.
Earlier, Baroda rode on a 93-run third-wicket stand between skipper Kedar Devdhar (64, 49b, 4x4, 3x6) and Kartik Kakade (53 n.o., 41b, 5x4, 2x6) to post a good total.
Kakade began to accelerate in the 11th over, with a slog-sweep off leggie Mayank Markande. He then got two maximums in the long-off region, going through with the shot even though he could not get to the pitch of the ball.
Devdhar, meanwhile, moved to top gear with two big sixes over midwicket off pacer Siddharth Kaul. Devdhar and Kakare were instrumental in Baroda racking up 96 runs in the final 10 overs.
Punjab was let down by poor catching. Kaul dropped a regulation chance when Devdhar was on 31, much to the disappointment of bowler Markande. A few overs later, Kakade received a life on 18 when Anmolpreet Singh misjudged a skier at long-off. Those proved costly in the end.
The scores: Baroda 160/3 in 20 overs (Kedar Devdhar 64, Kartik Kakade 53 n.o.) bt Punjab 135/8 in 20 overs (Gurkeerat Mann 39, Mandeep Singh 42 n.o., Lukman Meriwala 3/28).
Final: January 31 (Sunday), Tamil Nadu vs Baroda, 7 p.m.
