Gujarat defeated Saurashtra by eight wickets in the West Zone Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 League opener at the SCA Stadium at Rajkot. Put into bat, Saurashtra were bundled out for a modest total of 133 with Gujarat bowler JK Parmar picking up a 4-wicket haul.

Parmar returned with impressive figures of 4/17 and was superbly aided by Piyush Chawla (2/24), Ishwar Chaudhary (2/30), skipper Axar Patel (1/20) and Karan Patel (1/22). For Saurashtra, Vishvarajsinh Jadeja top scored with 48 in 32 balls, threading three boundaries and a six.

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But Prerak Mankad (20), A V Vasavada (19) and Shaurya Sanandia (18) failed to convert their starts. Chasing 134, Gujarat opener Priyank Panchal smashed 76 in 54 balls, striking 10 fours and a lone six. One down batsman BH Merai (35*) and Chirag Gandhi (5*) took the side home in 18.1 overs, as they grabbed four points.

Sanandia picked up the two wickets to finish with figures of 2/25. In the second match of the day, Baroda chased a stiff 178/6 put up by Maharashtra on the board with five wickets in hand.
For Maharashtra one down Ruturaj Gaikwad (52 off 36 balls) was the top scorer.

Also Vijay Zol (28), Rahul Tripathi (30) and a cameo by Ankit Bawne (23 off 9 balls) helped Maharashtara go past the 170-run mark as the oppostion bowlers were punished. While Atit Sheth (3/21) was the pick of the bowlers, Rishi Arothe leaked 35 runs in three overs and Soaeb Tai conceded 34 runs in his three overs.

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For Baroda, skipper Deepak Hooda (57 off 34 balls), Swapnil Singh (36 retired hurt) and Vishnu Solanki (42 not out off 21 balls) starred with the bat, as they helped their side romp home with 1.3 overs to spare. Hooda laced four fours and two sixes while Solanki had two fours and three sixes to his credit against a hapless Maharashtra attack.

Brief Scores:

Saurashtra 133 (Vishvarajsinh Jadeja 48, J K Parmar 4/17) lost to Gujarat 137/2 (Priyank Panchal 76, S Sanandia 2/25)

Maharashtra (178/6, Ruturaj Gaikwad 52, Rahul Tripathi 30, Atit Sheth (3/21) lost to Baroda 180/5 (Deepak Hooda 57, Vishnu Solanki 42*, DJ Muthuswamy (3/24).