Opener Aditya Waghmode and Deepak Jagbir Hooda struck unbeaten fifties to back up the efforts of their bowlers as Baroda outplayed Maharashtra by eight wickets in the Group C Vijay Hazare cricket match, here today.
Chasing 177 for a win at Feroz Shah Kotla, Baroda rode on a 132-run unbeaten third-wicket stand between Waghmode (77 not out) and Hooda (58 not out) to canter home in 39.3 overs.
The Ambati Rayudu-led side lost a couple of early wickets including star batsman Yusuf Pathan (18), but Waghmode and Hooda mixed the right dose of caution and aggression to drive the team home.
Earlier electing to field, Baroda reinstated the faith in the team's decision to restrict the Kedar Jadhav-led side to 176 for nine in 50 overs.
In-form left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt bagged 4 wickets while left-arm medium Rishi Arothe picked two.
Rahul Tripathi top-scored with a gutsy 46 while opener Harshad Khadiwale (36) and Jadhav (25) made useful contributions even as the rest of the batsmen failed to get into double figures.
The two sides are just behind table-toppers Delhi with Baroda registering three wins and two losses in five appearances, while Maharashtra suffering their first loss in four games.
Brief Scores:
Maharashtra 176/9 in 50 overs (Rahul Tripathi 46, Harshad Khadiwale 36; Bhargav Bhatt 4-30, Rishi Arothe 2-25)
Baroda 177/2 in 39.3 overs (Aditya Waghmode 77 not out, Deepak Jagbir Hooda 58 not out; Domnic Muthuswami 1-30)
Points: Baroda 4, Maharashtra 0.
