349 runs, 37 sixes and the biggest win! When there was a tsunami of runs in Indore, the pitch became ‘highway’ and the balls became ‘airplane’

Baroda vs Sikkim Record Breaking Historic T20 Match Highlights: This is the story of that day, when there was a tsunami of runs on the cricket pitch. There was a famine of wickets and the bowlers were only watching the balls going out of the boundary line… At present, even though there are a flurry of fours and sixes in the IPL and records are being broken every day, but there is one record which seems almost impossible to break. When the sun of 5 December 2024 rose on the Emerald High School ground of Indore, no one had any idea that a new history of T-20 cricket would be written today. Baroda and Sikkim in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) The teams were facing each other… but by the end of the game, this match became not just a match but a ‘run making factory’.

It is said that T20 cricket is a game of batsmen, but that day the batsmen of Baroda gave a new definition to this saying. After winning the toss, Baroda chose to bat first and what happened next forced cricket statisticians around the world to pick up their calculators. 20 overs played and 349 runs on the scoreboard! Just hearing this score makes one sweat, but seeing it turning into reality was no less than a miracle.

What happened in the match?

beginning and beginning of the storm

Shashwat Rawat and Abhimanyu Singh came to start the innings… Sikkim bowlers thought that they would create pressure by giving initial shocks, but the opposite happened… Shashwat scored 43 runs in 16 balls with the help of 4 sixes and 4 fours. They made a partnership of 92 runs in just 31 balls for the first wicket. After this, there was a stormy partnership of 94 runs in 33 balls for the third wicket between Bhanu Pania and Shivalik, which changed the course of the match. Bhanu Pania made her intentions clear from the very first over. He scored 134 runs in just 51 balls. His innings included 5 fours and 15 skyscraper sixes.

Fireworks of Abhimanyu, Shivalik and Vishnu

Abhimanyu Singh, who came to support Bhanu, reminded him of Gabba. He took every bowler of Sikkim on remand. Abhimanyu faced only 17 balls and played a brilliant inning of 53 runs. His strike rate was beyond 300. In this innings he hit 5 sixes and 4 fours. Apart from him, Shivalik Sharma scored 55 runs in 17 balls, which included 6 sixes and 3 fours. At the same time, Vishnu Solanki scored 50 runs in 16 balls, hitting 6 sixes and 2 fours. The strike rate of both remained beyond 300.

Which records were made?

This match destroyed many big records of not only Indian domestic cricket but also world T20 cricket like a pack of cards.

• Highest score in T-20 history: Baroda scored 349 runs for 5 wickets in 20 overs. Earlier, Zimbabwe’s record of 344 runs was the highest in international cricket, which was surpassed by Baroda.
• Most sixes in an innings: Baroda’s batsmen together hit 37 sixes in the entire innings. This is the most number of sixes hit by a team in any official T20 match.

Sikkim bowling (scene of massacre)

This match was like a nightmare for the bowlers of Sikkim. The economy of four bowlers was above 20. Lee Yong Lepcha gave away 55 runs in 2 overs at an economy of 27.50. At the same time, Paljor gave 45 runs in 4 overs, Ankur gave 51 runs in 4 overs and Saptula gave 36 runs in 2 overs. Apart from this, Roshan gave 81 runs in 4 overs, Tarun Sharma gave 50 runs in 2 overs and Parth gave 41 runs in 2 overs.

Sikkim team could score only 86 runs

Sikkim team got buried under this mountain of runs. Baroda bowlers also showed no mercy. Sikkim team could score only 86 runs at the loss of 7 wickets in 20 overs. His 4 batsmen could not touch double figures.

The way power-hitting and range-hitting were used in this match between Baroda and Sikkim, it showed a glimpse of future cricket. This victory of Baroda made them the ‘favourite’ in that season of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Even today, when there is talk of big scores in T-20, that date of 5th December 2024 and that ground of Indore automatically comes to mind, where the cricket balls were talking to the clouds.