Jitesh Sharma, Hardik Pandya hit quickfire fifties; Baroda score 391

Priyanshu Moliya hit a century (113) while Jitesh Sharma smashed a 33-ball 73 and Hardik Pandya blitzed 75 off 31 to power Baroda to 391 against Chandigarh in a Vijay Hazare Trophy game in Rajkot on Thursday (January 8).

Opting to bat first at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in their Elite Group B game, Baroda’s batters shone bright with number three Moliya leading the way. He scored 113 off 106 with 10 fours and a six.

Also read: Hardik hits 5 sixes, 1 four in an over

However, the power hitting down the order came from Hardik and Jitesh. Batting at number six, Hardik blasted nine sixes and two fours. Wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh, at number seven, too launched an assault on Chandigarh bowlers with eight fours and four sixes.

Jitesh returns to form after 4 failures

For right-handed Jitesh, who was recently dropped from the T20 World Cup squad, it was a welcome return to form in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy. His previous four innings were failures with single-digit scores of 2, 0, 9, and 8. On Thursday, Jitesh struck at a strike rate of 221.21.

Also read: CSK's Ramakrishna Ghosh hits 27-ball 64 in Vijay Hazare Trophy

Hardik followed up his 133 against Vidarbha on January 3 with another blazing knock with a strike rate of 241.93.

Vishnu Solanki was the other Baroda batter to go past 50 runs during the innings. He made 54 off 49 with eight fours.