Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Group B roundup: Gujarat exits despite win over Karnataka; Baroda smashes highest-ever total

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Group B roundup: Gujarat exits despite win over Karnataka; Baroda smashes highest-ever total

In the end, it came down to the net run rate. The battle between Saurashtra, Baroda and Gujarat to advance to the knockout phase of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy from Group B was tense, and one of these teams was eventually going to miss out despite doing little wrong over the past two weeks. That has turned out to be Gujarat.

Led by skipper Axar Patel’s all-round heroics, Gujarat did what was asked of it against Karnataka on the final day of the group stage by cruising to a 48-run victory at the Holkar Stadium. After amassing 251 for five, it bundled out Mayank Agarwal’s team for 203. The win took it to 24 points after seven matches, the same as Saurashtra and Baroda eventually, but a net run rate of 1.932 meant it was still third in the standings in this group. For Gujarat to better Baroda’s net run rate, it had to restrict Karnataka to 144 or less.

While Saurashtra and Baroda were always expected to win their matches on Thursday, the decisive factor proved to be the latter’s mammoth victory margin of 263 runs against Sikkim. Electing to bat at the Emerald Heights International School ground in the day’s opening match, Baroda smashed 349 for five, the highest total in T20 history. It also struck an unprecedented 37 sixes, with Bhanu Pania belting as many as 15 in his unbeaten 134. Both these records had earlier belonged to Zimbabwe, which had hammered 344 for four, including 27 maximums, against Gambia in Nairobi in October.

With Sikkim restricted to 86 for seven in the run chase, Baroda’s net run rate surged from 0.437 to 2.353 for a first-place finish that secured qualification for the quarters. Saurashtra finished second, after chasing down 137 against Tripura in 13.3 overs with four wickets in hand. At 2.267, its net run rate was marginally behind. It secured automatic entry into the last eight, nevertheless, on account of being the best second-place team across all five groups.