Cricket

IPL 2021 Auction Dark horse: Vishnu Solanki hits last 3 balls for 6,4,6 to take Baroda to Last 4

IPL 2021 Auction Dark horse: Vishnu Solanki hits last 3 balls for 6,4,6 to take Baroda to Last 4: Vishnu Solanki will be…

By Gautam Kapoor

IPL 2021 Auction Dark horse: Vishnu Solanki hits last 3 balls for 6,4,6 to take Baroda to Last 4: Vishnu Solanki will be a dark horse for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 auctions, courtesy of his performance at the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 quarterfinal against Baroda on Wednesday at the Motera Stadium. Scoring 16 runs in last three balls to steer his team into the semifinals, shows his big-hitting prowess and could have put him on the radar of many IPL franchises for the auctions on February 18 in Chennai.

An excellent penultimate over by skipper Mohit Sharma had paved the way for Haryana’s win before a late show from Solanki saw him scoring 14 runs off the last three balls to power Baroda to a thrilling win in the quarter-final. Baroda chased down the target of 149 runs to beat Haryana. Later in the day, Bihar and Rajasthan will be in action in the fourth quarter-final. Baroda will now face Tamil Nadu in the second semi-final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Friday.

With Haryana batting first after losing the toss, the side got off to the worst possible start as they lost their first wicket for 9 runs in the third over after an unfortunate run out.

Minutes later, Karthik Kakade got another breakthrough as Abhimanyu caught Chaitanya Bishnoi in the fifth over as Haryana’s score read 33 at the completion of the powerplay.

The Baroda attack did well to keep the scoring rate down but Himanshu Rana and Shivam stitched a much-needed 80-run stand to revamp Haryana’s hopes in the game. Just when the side reached the 100-run mark Atit Sheth caused the damage again as he dismissed Shivam for 35 in the 15th over.

In the next over, Karthik ended Himanshu’s stint at the crease as the batsman departed one short of a half-century leaving his side at 115/4. With a couple of wickets falling in a short span, Haryana scored just 18 runs from the 15th to the 18th over.

Rahul Tewatia, who is usually famous for playing cameo innings, failed to up the tempo and got run out after scoring ten runs off as many balls. Sumit Kumar and Arun Chaprana in the final over whacked sixes to see Haryana reach a respectable 148/7 despite the side losing two wickets in the last five balls.

Chasing 149, skipper Kedar Devdhar and Smit Patel made a steady start for Baroda with the side scoring 33 runs in the first five overs without losing a wicket. However, the final over in the powerplay — which was also the first maiden of the match — saw Yuzvendra Chahal bamboozling Patel.

Devdhar then along with Vishnu Solanki scored 68 runs in the next nine overs without playing any risky shot. The partnership started to look lethal and that saw Haryana introduce Chahal back into the attack in a desperate attempt to take a wicket.

However, Sumit Kumar provided Haryana the much-needed breakthrough as skipper Devdhar finally perished after scoring a 40-ball 43. With 23 required off the last two overs, Mohit ensured Haryana was right on track. Even the first three balls of the last over went for just three runs but Solanki struck two back to back fours and then launched a helicopter shot to steer Baroda into the semis.

Brief Scores: Haryana 148/7 (H Rana 49, Shivam Chauhan 35; Karthik Kakade 2-7); Baroda 150/2 (Vishnu Solanki 71*, Kedar Devdhar 43; Yuzvendra Chahal 1-15).

Gautam Kapoor

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IPL 2021 Auction Dark horse: Vishnu Solanki hits last 3 balls for 6,4,6 to take Baroda to Last 4

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