Mumbai: Two time champions Baroda meet Uttar Pradesh in the final of Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 domestic tournament at Wankhede stadium here on Wednesday evening. Uttar Pradesh who lost to Baroda in the final two seasons ago will be bidding for their first title.
Baroda lost a close game to Kerala in the Super League but managed to qualify after chasing down Mumbai’s target of 152 in 19 overs with just a wicket in hand on Monday. Everyone chipped in to show they all mean business. Uttar Pradesh is unbeaten in all eight games in the competition, also displaying their batting depth in the last Super League game against Delhi. UP chased 159 despite being reduced to 68/5 at the half way mark on Monday at MCA’s Bandra Kurla Complex stadium here.
“We lost against Kerala we could have been out if it was knockout but it is a great format. It feels special to be in the final. UP are a good team; obviously we have played a lot with Suresh Raina & Co. But it will depend on who executes the plans better on the day, will go on to win the final,” Baroda skipper Irfan Pathan said.
Pathan is himself in great form with both ball (16 wickets) and bat (190 runs) and his team has other match winners in tournament's leading scorer Hardik Pandya (364 runs), Deepak Hooda in the side. The only concern will be the form of Yusuf Pathan.
“We will get one more game. It is good for us,” said Baroda’s leading scorer (364) Hardik Pandya who is part of Indian squad along with Uttar Pradesh skipper Raina for three Twenty20 Internationals in Australia.
Raina has got few starts in the tournament but hasn’t been able to go beyond 20’s. He has made just 111 runs in five games with 28 as his highest. He will be looking for a big one before boarding a flight to Australia. Prashant Gupta and Eklavya Dwivedi are also in good form. Piyush Chawla is second highest wicket taker (15). They also have the experience of Praveen Kumar. Raina will leave for Australia on Friday along with other T20I team members.
