Uphill task for Baroda in Syed Mushtaq Ali final

Two-time champions Baroda meet Uttar Pradesh in the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 domestic tournament at Wankhede Stadium here on Wednesday evening with the latter — who lost to Baroda in the final two seasons ago — bidding for their first title.

Baroda lost a close game to Kerala in the Super League but managed to qualify after chasing down Mumbai’s target of 152 in 19 overs with just a wicket in hand on Monday. Everyone chipped in to show they all mean business.

Uttar Pradesh, unbeaten in all eight games in the competition, displayed their batting depth in the last Super League game against Delhi, chasing down 159 despite being reduced to 68/5 at the halfway mark.

“We lost against Kerala we could have been out if it was knockout but it is a great format. It feels special to be in the final. UP are a good team; obviously we have played a lot with Suresh Raina & Co. But it will depend on who executes plans better on the day,” Baroda skipper Irfan Pathan said.

Pathan is himself in great form with both ball (16 wickets) and bat (190 runs) and he has other match winners in the tournament’s leading scorer Hardik Pandya (364 runs), and Deepak Hooda in the side. The only concern will be the form of Yusuf Pathan.

“We will get one more game. It is good for us,” said Pandya who is part of the India squad along with UP skipper Raina for the three T20 Internationals in Australia.

Raina has got few starts in the tournament but hasn’t been able to capitalise, making just 111 runs in five games with 28 as his highest. He will be looking for a big one before boarding the flight to Australia. Prashant Gupta and Eklavya Dwivedi are also in good form. Piyush Chawla is the tournament’s second highest wicket taker (15). They also have the experience of Praveen Kumar.

Raina leaves for Australia on Friday along with other T20I team members — Pandya, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, and Jasprit Bumrah.