Vijay Hazare: Baroda lose despite Hardik heroics

Rajkot, Jan 3 (PTI) Hardik Pandya hammered a barrage of sixes, including five in a row, on way to a 92-ball 133 yet the opposition, Vidarbha cantered to a nine-wicket win over Baroda in the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Saturday.

Pandya hit an overall eight sixes and 11 fours to fire Baroda to 293 for nine from a shaky 71 for five at one stage.

However, Vidarbha hardly broke a sweat in the run chase with Aman Mokhade smashing a 121-ball 150 not out and Dhruv Shorey standing firm on 65 off 76 balls. The 294-run target was overhauled in 41.4 overs.

It was Vidarbha's fourth win in five games while Baroda suffered their second loss in five matches.

Batting as low as No. 7 in his first match of the competition, Pandya came out all guns blazing to bring up his maiden List A century in his 119th match, taking Baroda to a competitive total.

In the 39th over, Pandya went after Vidarbha spinner Parth Rekhade to collect a total of 34 runs, which included five sixes and a four.

The first-five balls of the left-arm spinner went flying over the ropes while the final ball was hit for a boundary.

Pandya's innings included only 31 singles as he launched the counter-attack, hitting most of his sixes in the midwicket region and over long-on. A few also went flying over long-off.

Pandya's domination could also be gauged from the fact that the next-best batter in Baroda's innings was Vishnu Solanki, who made 26.

In another game in Rajkot, Hyderabad dismissed Chandigarh for 150 after scoring 286 for nine. Tilak Varma starred in Hyderabad's 136-run win with 109 off 118 balls.

Mohammed Siraj, who returned to the ODI squad on Saturday, got one wicket in eight overs and conceded 19 runs.

Brief scores: Baroda 293/9 in 50 overs (Hardik Pandya 133; Yash Thaku 4/64). Vidarbha 296/1 in 41.4 overs (Aman Mokhade 150 not out).

Hyderabad 286/9 in 50 overs (Tilak Varma 109, Abirath Reddy 71; Jagjit Singh 3/43). Chandigarh 150 all out in 37.4 overs (Sanyam Saini 46; Chinntla Rakshan Readdi 3/34). PTI BS AM BS AM AM