Two teams that were unbeaten in the group stage meet each other as Baroda and Haryana clash in the quarterfinals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Both the sides won 5 games each in the league phase.
Team News
Baroda won by 12 runs against Gujarat in their previous game. Put in to bat first, they amassed 176 runs led by Vishnu Solanki's 59 and Abhimanyu Rajput's quickfire knock of 34. The left-arm spinner, Ninad Rathva put the breaks at the death taking 3 wickets in one over.
Baroda will miss the services of Krunal Pandya who left the bio-secure bubble after his father, Himanshu passed away.
Haryana beat Kerala by 4 runs in their last match. Shivam Chauhan's 59, Chaitanya Bishnoi's 45, and Rahul Tewatia's 41 took them to a competitive total of 198.
Mohit Sharma and Arun Chaprana were expensive with the ball and Jayant Yadav went wicketless. Sumit Kumar took 2 wickets for 16 runs.
Pitch and Conditions
With the match set to start at noon, dew will not play a major role. The windy conditions will help the pacers to move the ball around getting some swing. Motera is a batting-friendly track that gradually slows down as the match proceeds.
Probable Playing XI
Baroda (BRD): Kedar Devdhar, Smit Patel, Vishnu Solanki, Ninad Rathva, Abhimanyu Rajput, Atit Sheth, Bhanu Pania, Babashafi Pathan, Lukman Meriwala, Bhargav Bhatt, Karthik Kakade
Haryana (HAR): Chaitanya Bishnoi, Arun Chaprana, Himanshu Rana, Shivam Chauhan, Yashu Sharma, Rohit Parmod Sharma, Rahul Tewatia, Sumit Kumar, Jayant Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Key Battles
Vishnu Solanki (BRD) vs Yuzvendra Chahal (HAR)
Solanki smashed a 33-ball 59 in the previous match against Gujarat. He is a consistent batsman for Baroda and is a vital cog in the middle-order. He has a healthy strike rate of 131.57 in domestic T20 matches.
Chahal took 1 wicket and conceded 35 runs against Kerala. The leggie has a skiddy bowling action and bowls accurately. He can trick the batsmen with his flight and clever change of pace.
Bhargav Bhatt (BRD) vs Shivam Chauhan (HAR)
Chauhan has been the leading run-getter for Haryana in this tournament with 214 runs in 5 matches. The conditions in Mumbai were ideal for batting in the group stage and he will have to be at his best in Ahmedabad. He will play a key role in anchoring the innings.
Bhargav took 2 wickets and gave away 28 runs in 4 overs in the last game against Gujarat. The left-arm makes the breakthroughs by bowling a wicket to wicket length consistently.
Prediction
Haryana has a couple of Indian team players in their side and has more experience heading into this clash. Baroda is on a roll despite not having the Pandya brothers and Yusuf Pathan in their team. They are peaking at the right time and their batting line-up is in fantastic form at the moment.
Cricwizz predicts Baroda to win the match
