Bengaluru: Ajinkya Rahane continued his T20 re-invention with a brutal 98 that carried Mumbai to a six-wicket victory over Baroda and into the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Friday.
Mumbai bowlers chipped away at regular intervals as Baroda were restricted to 158 for seven, and Rahane’s blistering knock off 56 balls (11×4, 5×6) took his team to 164 for four in 17.2 overs in the first semifinal.
Mumbai will face the winner of the second semifinal between Delhi and Madhya Pradesh in the final on Sunday.
It was quite remarkable to see Rahane, a batsman of classic mould, playing like a T20 thoroughbred and the right-hander brought up his fifty in 29 balls with a massive six over mid-wicket off pacer Hardik Pandya.
After the early departure of Prithvi Shaw (8), who scooped Hardik to Atit Sheth in the circle, Rahane and skipper Shreyas Iyer (46, 30b, 4×4, 3×6) added 78 runs for the second wicket in just nine overs.
The partnership knocked the stuffing out of Baroda, whose lone bright moment was when Hardik received loud cheers from a sizable turnout at the Chinnaswamy Stadium as he asked the security guards not to beat up three ground invaders.
Rahane was on 98 when Mumbai needed two more runs to win, and pacer Abhimanyu Rajput bowled a wide, perhaps purposefully, as the scores went level.
The crowd too expressed the displeasure with loud boos and jeers, but in the very next ball Rahane got out while attempting a big heave.
But by then, he had done his job to perfection.
Earlier, Mumbai bowlers were on the money right through the innings while exploiting some early movement on a damp day.
Shahswat Rawat (33) and skipper Krunal Pandya (30) could not exploit their starts, getting out to wayward shots.
Shivalik Sharma (34 not out, 24 balls) played a few beefy hits, including a last ball six, to take Baroda past the 150-run mark, but that was not even enough to stretch Mumbai.
Brief Scores:
Baroda: 158 for 7 in 20 overs (Shahswat Rawat 33, Krunal Pandya 30, Shivalik Sharma 34 not out; Suryansh Shedge 2/11) lost to Mumbai: 164/4 in 17.2 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 98, Shreyas Iyer 46) by 6 wickets.
