The first round of Syed Mushtaq Ali 2024 matches came to an end on Saturday with some huge names in the mix. It was a blockbuster clash between Baroda and Gujarat which saw Axar Patel take on Krunal and Hardik Pandya at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.
Baroda went onto win the game by five wickets but it was Gujarat skipper Axar Patel who stole the show. The 30-year-old timed his dive right to take a stunning catch that helped get rid of Atit Sheth. The incident happened in the 2nd ball of the tenth over. Ravi Bishnoi was bowling to Sheth who tried to smash the ball through the covers.
A splendid catch from the Gujarat skipper!
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) November 23, 2024
Axar Patel grabs a sharp catch to dismiss Atit Sheth 👏👏
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Axar Patel timed his dive perfectly as he took the catch to dismiss Sheth for 16 runs from 18 balls. There was a decent amount of crowd who had gathered to watch the match with some huge names in the fray. Hardik Pandya made his return to domestic cricket after a long time and was playing under his brother Krunal.
Hardik Pandya's heroics helps Baroda beat Gujarat
Krunal Pandya won the toss and put Gujarat into bat as Axar Patel and his side scored 184 on the board. The best batter for Gujarat was former KKR star Aarya Desai who scored 78 runs from 52 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixes. Axar Patel stayed not out on 43 off 33 balls with 3 fours and a six.
Hardik Pandya bowled four overs with the ball picked the wicket of Aarya Desai and gave away 37 runs. The 31-year-old then scored an unbeaten 74 runs from 35 balls with 6 fours and 5 sixes. During the course of his innings, Hardik also scored his 5000th run in T20 cricket. This made him the first Indian to score 5000 T20 runs and pick 100 wickets in the format.
Indian pacer Mohammed Shami had a day to forget with the ball as he picked 1/46 from his 4 overs against Punjab. The 34-year-old dismissed Nehal Wadhera for 28 and also effected the run out of Anmolpreet Singh for 39 as Punjab were all out fort 179. Bengal won by 4 wickets with Shahbaz Ahmed scoring 100 not out from 49 balls with 6 fours and 7 sixes. Arshdeep Singh picked 2/21 while Abhishek Sharma picked 3/37.