Hardik Pandya's 77 guides Baroda to 7-wicket win over Punjab as Abhishek's fifty goes in vain

India all-rounder Hardik Pandya made an excellent return to competitive cricket after two months, striking an unbeaten 77 to power Baroda to a seven-wicket win over Punjab in a Group C match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Tuesday.

Pandya's 42-ball knock (7x4, 4x6) helped Baroda surmount Punjab's challenging 222 for eight in 20 overs, which was built around India opener Abhishek Sharma's 19-ball 50.

Pandya's blitz carried Baroda to 224 for three in 19.1 overs.

This was the 32-year-old's first competitive outing after turning up against Sri Lanka in an Asia Cup Super Fours match in Dubai on September 26.

Since then, he missed the action owing to a left quadricep injury, and has been recuperating at the BCCI Center of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru.

But on this day, he batted freely and bowled four overs while conceding 52 runs and took the wicket of Anmolpreet Singh.

Pandya's smooth outing might have come as a shot in the arm for national selectors who will be picking up India's squad for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa.

In fact, Hardik gave a typical finish to the match, smashing left-arm pacer Ashwani Kumar for two sixes and then meting out the same treatment to strapping pacer Gurnoor Brar as Baroda bagged four crucial points.

Right now, Baroda are placed third on the table with eight points behind leaders Gujarat (12 points) and Punjab (8 points, but superior net run rate of 2.27 against Baroda's -0.08).

Pandya also got support from Vishnu Solanki (41 off 21 balls), Shashwat Rawat (31, 18 balls) and Shivalik Sharma, who made 47 off 31 balls before getting retired hurt.

Earlier, Punjab rode on Abhishek's whirlwind fifty that contained five fours and four sixes and Anmolpreet's equally flashing 69 off 32 balls (7x4, 4x6) to raise a total in excess of 200.

For Baroda, India under-19 pacer Raj Limbani took three for 36 in four overs.

Karan Lal's ton powers Bengal =================== Opener Karan Lal made a forceful 113 off 50 balls (8x4, 10x6) as Bengal chased down a stiff target of 209 in 18.4 overs. Brief Scores: Punjab: 222/8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 50, Anmolpreet Singh 69; Raj Limbani 3/36) lost to Baroda: 224/3 in 19.1 overs (Hardik Pandya 77 not out, Shivalik Sharma 47 retired hurt, Shashwat Kumar 31, Vishnu Solanki 43) by 7 wickets.

Pondicherry: 83 all out in 13.1 overs (JK Bhatt 3/17, Ravi Bishnoi 3/13, Arzan Nagwaswalla 2/22) lost to Gujarat: 84/1 in 9 overs (Aarya Desai 53 not out) by 9 wickets.

Himachal Pradesh: 208/5 in 20 overs (Ekant Sen 89, Pukhraj Mann 79; Shahbaz Ahmed 3/36) lost to Bengal: 212/5 in 18.4 overs (Karan Lal 113, Abhishek Porel 41; Mridul Surroch 2/24) by 5 wickets. Services: 157/7 in 20 overs (Nakul Sharma 57, Vineet Dhankar 36; Anuj Thakral 2/23) lost to Haryana: 160/4 in 19 overs (Ankit Kumar 78 not out) by six wickets.

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