Baroda lose to Kerala, yet qualify on better net run rate

Kerala shocked Baroda by 22 runs but failed to progress to the final from Group B as the latter went through on the last ball by virtue of a better net run rate after the two teams finished level on points in the Syed Mushtaq Ali All India T20 tournament here today.
Chasing Kerala's challenging total of 152 for six, Baroda needed to score 127 to qualify as the top team in the group. The latter achieved it on the last ball of the match at the Wankhede Stadium when left-handed batsman Lukman Meriwala back cut K R Rakesh for a boundary when just one run was needed to make the grade.

Baroda were stopped at 130 for eight to lose the game but entered the final on a superior net run rate (+0.774) than Kerala (+0.661) after both teams finished the five-team group phase with identical 12 points from three wins.
In the other game at the Sharad Pawar Indoor Academy Ground at Bandra Kurla Complex, Rajasthan, who too had a slim chance to qualify on net run rate through a win, slumped to a seven-run defeat against Delhi and were knocked out.
Baroda will meet the winners of Group A, being held in Rajkot, in the final here on April 14 after tomorrow's break.

Chandrakant Pandit-coached Kerala deserved credit for the manner in which they fought tooth and nail against a team which entered the game not only with a much superior net run rate but also with a seven-match winning streak going back to the West Zone qualifying stage.

In the first half of the match, Kerala's lower order helped them post a challenging score after they were held on a tight leash by Munaf Patel's superb first spell of 3-0-7-2.
Ironically, it was Patel, who conceded 19 runs in his last over, the 19th of the innings, when Raiphi Gomez, who top scored with an unbeaten 19-ball 42, struck him for two successive sixes over the straight field with impunity.

The Kerala innings - which seemed to have got bogged down at 25 for two after the power play - was first steadied by the 39-run stand between Rahul Prem (30 in 31 balls) and Jafar Jamal (37 in 25 balls).
It was then given a shot in the arm by the 55-run stand in 30 balls for the sixth wicket between Jamal, who hit a six and four boundaries, and Gomez who slammed three sixes and as many fours.