PANAJI: Goa suffered a five-wicket defeat by Baroda in their Vijay Hazare Trophy ‘Elite Group A’ opener in Surat on Saturday. Goa next play Gujarat on Monday.
Elsewhere in the group action, Gujarat beat Chhattisgarh by three wickets while Hyderabad thrashed Tripura by 113 runs.
Put into bat, Goa posted a total of 263 runs in 49.1 overs. Snehal Kauthankar was the top-scorer for Goa with 81 runs off 100 balls. Wicket-keeper Eknath Kerkar (43), who was involved in the team’s highest partnership of the innings contributing 86 runs for fourth wicket alongwith Snehal, and all-rounder Suyash Prabhudessai (39) also made handy runs.
Baroda bowlers Atit Sheth and captain Krunal Pandya picked up three wickets each. Lukman Meriwala took two wickets.
In reply, the formidable Baroda unit were well in control of the chase as Vishnu Solanki took the game away from Goa with his 108-run knock while the likes of Pandya (71) and Smit Patel (58) ensured their side into a winning position.
Although a late collapse prolonged their victory chase as Goa picked up 3 quick wickets following the third-wicket partnership of 138 runs between Solanki and Pandya, the result was never in doubt as Baroda reached the target of 264 with five wickets in hand and nine deliveries to spare.
Goa captain Amit Verma picked up two wickets while Amulya Pandrekar, Vijesh Prabhudesai and Lakshay Garg took one wicket apiece.
