Tamil Nadu staved off a late fightback by Baroda to carve out a comfortable 30-run victory and enter the semi-finals of the Ranji Inter State One-Day All India knock out tournament at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
Tamil Nadu, choosing to bat first after winning the toss, posted a healthy-looking 274 for 8 in 50 overs, thanks mainly to an anchoring 68-run effort by S Badrinath who hit only 2 boundaries in his 101-ball innings.
The southerners scored most of their runs in singles and twos, with only 90 runs coming via boundary hits.
In reply, Baroda lost two wickets in the very first over before recovering to 48 through Yusuf Pathan's belligerent 19-ball 34 with six fours and a six.
But the dismissal of Yusuf and opener Satyajit Parab in quick succession put the brakes on Baroda who then recovered to 122 before another slump saw them tottering at 138 for 6 at the half way stage.
Ajit Bhoite kept Baroda in the hunt with a fine knock of 62 off 75 balls. But once his seventh wicket stand of 53 with Himanshu Jadhav was broken, the fate of his team was sealed.
For Tamil Nadu, opening bowler R Jesuraj, who reduced Baroda to 0 for 2 in the first over, ended up with 3 for 39. Medium pacer Suresh grabbed 4 for 60.
Left-arm spinners Ram Kumar (2 for 41) and S Sriram (1 for 35) bowled the middle overs economically besides providing vital breakthroughs.
Tamil Nadu will meet Bengal, conquerors of Railways by seven wickets in another quarter-final at the Brabourne stadium today, in the semi finals on April 12.
Scoreboard:
Tamil Nadu:
S Vidyut c Williams b Irfan Pathan Sr 20
S Suresh c Yusuf Pathan b Rakesh Patel 28
S Sriram st P Shah b Bhoite 37
S Badrinath run out 68
H Badani c Jadhav b Pawar 15
S Sharath run out 13
D Kaarthick b Yusuf Pathan 16
Hemant Kumar not out 36
R Ram Kumar run out 3
R Jesuraj not out 16
Extras (b 2, lb 4, nb 1, w 15) 22
Total (for 8 wkts in 50 overs) 274
Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-61, 3-107, 4-145, 5-167, 6-197, 7-230, 8-236
Bowling: R Patel 10-0-70-1, Irfan Pathan sr 10-0-49-1, Bhoite 10-0-47-1, Yusuf Pathan 10-0-53-1, Pawar 10-0-49-1.
Baroda:
C Williams c Kaarthick b Jesuraj 0
S Parab c Suresh b Sriram 28
R Pawar c Hemant Kumar b Jesuraj 0
Y Pathan c Sharath b Ram Kumar 34
J Martin c Badani b Suresh 32
K Powar b Ram Kumar 35
H Jadhav lbw Jesuraj 24
A Bhoite c Badrinath b Suresh 62
P Shah c Kaarthick b Suresh 12
R Patel lbw Suresh 0
I Pathan sr not out 5
Extras (lb 6, w 5, nb 1) 12
Total (all out in 46.2 overs) 244
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-0, 3-48, 4-66, 5-122, 6-138, 7-191, 8-214, 9-225
Bowling: Jesuraj 9-1-39-3, Shiv Kumar 2-0-18-0, Suresh 9.2-0-60-4, Ram Kumar 10-0-41-2, Sriram 10-1-35-1, Badani 5-0-31-0, Vidyut 1-0-14-0.