Hardik Pandya's 77 Powers Baroda Past Punjab

Hardik Pandya marked his return to competitive cricket with a match-winning unbeaten 77, powering Baroda to a seven-wicket victory over Punjab in a Group C match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Tuesday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

The 32-year-old allrounder, sidelined for more than two months by a left quadricep injury, smashed 74 runs off 42 balls, including multiple sixes in the closing overs, to guide Baroda to 224 for three in 19.1 overs while chasing Punjab's challenging total of 222 for eight. Punjab's innings featured a quickfire 50 off 19 balls from opener Abhishek Sharma and 69 off 32 from Anmolpreet Singh, but Baroda's bowlers, led by Raj Limbani's three for 36, kept the scoring in check.

Pandya also bowled four overs at the start of Punjab's innings, conceding 52 runs but claiming the key wicket of Anmolpreet Singh in the 15th over to disrupt a dangerous partnership. His contributions earned Baroda four points, moving them to third in the group with eight points, behind leaders Gujarat on 12 and Punjab also on eight but with a superior net run rate.

Support in the chase came from Vishnu Solanki's 41 off 21 balls, Shashwat Rawat's 31 off 18,...