Irfan Pathan's heroics help Baroda beat Gujarat in West Zone qualifiers of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

FILE PHOTO: Irfan Pathan took 3 wickets and scored an unbeaten 21 whereas Yusuf Pathan finished off the match with a boundary and a six

Baroda register convincing 6-wicket win over Gujarat in West Zone qualifiers of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. All-round performances from Irfan Pathan and Hardik Pandya helped Baroda to register the win.

Gujarat, having won the toss, elected to bat first. Their decision turned out ot be a catastrophic one when Irfan Pathan took 3 wickets in just 5 deliveries to leave them reeling at 12/3 in just 3 overs. The left-arm all-rounder finished with figures of 4-1-17-3. Leg-spinner Hardik Pandya was the other wicket-taker and finished with impeccable figures of 4-1-7-3. Smit Patel was the top scorer for Gujarat, having scored 28 runs.

With just 80 runs to win, it seemed like an easy chase for Baroda but they were under pressure with openers Kedar Devdhar and Ankit Waghmode departing in quick succession. After the powerplay, Baroda were struggling at 18 for 3 and Gujarat sensed an opening.

However Irfan and Pandya, heroes with the ball, came back on the field to steady the ship for Baroda. Pandya scored 37 runs with 6 boundaries and Irfan remained unbeaten on 21. The duo shared a partnership of 58 runs in 65 balls. Yusuf Pathan finished off the match with a boundary and a six.

Brief scores:

Gujarat 79 in 19.4 overs (Smith Patel 28; Hardik Pandya 3 for 7, Irfan Pathan 3 for 17) lost to Baroda 82 for 4 in 17.2 overs (Hardik Pandya 37, Irfan Pathan 21; Jasprit Bumrah 1 for 10) by 6 wickets.