SMAT: Kedar, Kartik, Lukman lead Baroda to final

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], January 29 (ANI): Disciplined bowling performance by Lukman Meriwala after half-centuries by skipper Kedar Devdhar and Kartik Kakade guided Baroda to a 25-run win over Punjab in the second semifinal of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here at the Motera Stadium on Friday.
Baroda will now take on Tamil Nadu in the final of the tournament on Sunday. Tamil Nadu defeated Rajasthan by seven-wicket in the first semifinal earlier in the day.
Chasing a moderate target of 161, Punjab was only able to score 135/8 in the allotted 20 overs despite skipper Mandeep Singh tried to take on Baroda bowlers and played an unbeaten knock of 42 runs off 24 balls including three sixes and as many fours.
Punjab suffered a bad start as they lost both the openers under four overs. Prabhsimran Singh (15) and Abishek Sharma (5) were both picked by Lukman Meriwala.
Anmolpreet Singh and Gurkeerat Mann tried to overcome the early blows and stitched a 32-run stand for the third wicket but the partnership was broken by Ninad Rathva in the ninth over.
Ramandeep Singh failed to score big runs and was scalped by Rathwa in the 14th over. Mandeep joined Mann in the middle and the duo build a 15-run brief stand for the fifth wicket before the latter was picked by Babashafi Pathan in the 15th over.
After Mann's dismissal, no batsman was able to spend time on the crease and Mandeep was left alone for taking his side over the line.
Mandeep remained unbeaten on 42 as Punjab fall 25-run short of the target.
For Baroda, Mariwala bagged three scalps while Rathva clinched two dismissals.
Earlier, Kedar Devdhar and Karthik Kakade's fifties enabled Baroda to post 160 runs with a loss of three wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Devdhar played a knock of 64 runs while Kakade amassed unbeaten 53 runs including two sixes and five fours.
For Punjab, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul, and Mayank Markande scalped one wicket each.
Brief Scores: Baroda 160/3 (Kedar Devdhar 64, Karthik Kakade 53*; Mayank Markande 1-29); Punjab 135/8 (Mandeep Singh 42*, Gurkeerat Mann 39; Lukman Meriwala 3-28). (ANI)