Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Baroda to meet Uttar Pradesh in T20 final

Baroda and Uttar Pradesh will square off in the final of the Mushtaq Ali T20 cricket championships after notching up contrasting wins over their respective opponents in the final Super League encounters here todayBaroda pipped hosts Mumbai en route their summit clash berth by virtue of a better net run rate NRR while UP beat a formidable Delhi to reach title round Needing 152 to win in 191 overs to qualify for the finals Baroda reached the target with one wicket to spare in 19 overs in a thrilling Group A match at the Wankhede Stadium Baroda recorded a better NRR of 0299 compared to Mumbais 0196UP on the other hand notched up their third straight win in Group B at the Bandra Kurla Complex ground of the Mumbai Cricket Association by defeating Delhi by three wickets with two balls to spareReplying to Delhis total of 158 for 6 structured around opener Unmukht Chands 48 and Pawan Negis unbeaten 41 UP scored 159 for 7 in 194 overs with Eklavya Dwivedis gamechanging innings of unbeaten 49 off 35 balls with five boundaries and two sixesAt Wankhede Stadium Baroda after winning the toss opted to field Mumbais 151 for five was built around T20 specialist Suryakumar Yadavs 57 off 36 balls which was studded with eight boundariesChasing the target in 191 overs to qualify for the January 20 final under lights at the Wankhede Baroda were struggling at 79 for 4 after 11 overs through a triple strike by leg spinner Praveen Tambe who packed off Mrunal Devdhar 18 Hardik Pandya 28 and Yusuf Pathan 1And when Irfan Pathan 19 and Deepak Hooda departed the latter after making 53 in 35 balls Baroda were in trouble at 126 for 6 at the beginning of the 17th overBut Soaeb Tai 10 and wicketkeeper Pinal Shah 13 held their nerves to add 19 crucialruns Though they lost three more wickets the last wicket pair of Bhargav Bhat 4 not out who had taken two wickets earlier and former India player Munaf Patel 0 not out helped Barodacomplete a close win within the stipulated number of oversBaroda twotime champions in 201112 and 201314 have thus earned themselves a chance to regain the trophy In the UPDelhi encounter inform Chand who had cracked a hundred against Gujarat earlier struck three sixes and as many fours at the beginning of the innings and also had an opening partnership of 33 with out of form Delhi captain Gautam Gambhir 13Though Delhi lost their way after that to be 105 for 6 just before the end of the 15th over Negi slammed 41 in just 23 balls enmeshed with two sixes and four fours and also added 53 runs in 31 balls with Manan Sharma to help the side cross the 150 markChasing the target UP were in deep trouble at 19 for 2 and then 88 for 6 after 13 overs which included the wicket of captain Suresh Raina 22 off 18 balls before they turned it aroundDwivedis timely unconquered knock and his partnerships of 40 runs with Praveen Kumar 18 off 13 balls for the seventh wicket and an unbroken 31 for the eighth with Amit Mishra not out 19 in 9 balls proved crucialIn an earlier Group B match at the BKC ground defending champions Gujarat defeated Jharkhand by 6 wickets for their second win in the league but it was not enough to carry them into the finalIn another Group A game Kerala defeated Vidarbha by two wickets for their second win but it was not enough to get the former a spot in the finalBrief scoresVidarbha 105 in 193 overs Faiz Fazal 18 Urvesh Patel 28 M Krishnan 3 for 29 N Nazar 3 for 14 F Ahmed 2 for 21 lost to Kerala 109 for 8 in 184 overs N Surendran 21 R Prem 34 A Wakhare 3 for 26Jharkhand 1426 in 20 Overs Ishank Jaggi 39 Virat Singh 29 Rush Kalaria 234 RP Singh 120 lost to Gujarat 1464 in 141 Overs Priyank Panchal 35 Manprit Juneja 33 Kaushal Singh 221 Vikash Singh 127 by 6 wicketsMumbai 151 for 5 Suryakumar Yadav 57 not out B Bhat 2 for 25 lost to Baroda 153 for 9 in 19 overs D Hooda 53 D Kulkarni 2 for 23 S Trivedi 2 for 34 P Tambe 3 for 26 by 1 wicketDelhi 158 for 6 U Chand 48 P Negi 41 A Mishra 2 for 25 P Chawla 2 for 31 K Yadav 2 for 29 lost to Uttar Pradesh 159 for 7 in 194 overs E Dwivedi 49 N Saini 2 for 24 by 3 wickets