Punjab and Baroda met in the second semi-final of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad. Baroda won the knockout clash by 25 runs to qualify for the final.

Punjab won the toss and opted to bowl first keeping the dew factor in mind. Baroda captain Kedar Devdhar led from the front with 64 off 49 balls, while Kartik Kakade scored an unbeaten 53 off 41 balls to take the side to 160/3 in their 20 overs.

For Punjab, spinners Mayank Markande and Harpreet Brar delivered economical spells while the seamers had an off-night as they failed to provide the much-needed breakthroughs.

On the first ball of the 17th over bowled by Siddharth Kaul, Kartik Kakade played a lofted shot towards long-off where Abhishek Sharma was stationed. It seemed like a certain six but the southpaw jumped up in the air, maintained his balance and threw the ball back in to save four important runs for his team.

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Tamil Nadu booked a spot in the final by defeating Rajasthan by seven wickets earlier in the day. Baroda will meet the Dinesh Karthik-led team on Sunday.