Baroda continued their impressive start to the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season, as a comfortable victory over Odisha placed the team at the top of their group with three wins in three matches.

Baroda are being led by Krunal Pandya, whose first innings century meant his team only had to bat once as they ran out victors by an innings and 98 runs in Vadodara.

Krunal, who scored 119(143), was congratulated by his brother Hardik Pandya, who took to his Instagram account to commend the performance put forth by the domestic team he represents, as well as his brother in particular.

Posting on his Instagram story, Hardik reshared a video of Krunal taking a single to reach his century, before raising his bat towards the dressing room in acknowledgement.

Hardik captioned the story with a congratulatory message, writing “Leading from the front my brother! Top, top 100. Credit to all your hard work.”

This was Krunal’s third first-class century in 12 matches, having come in to bat at number six for his team. He was assisted by opener Shivalik Sharma, who was dismissed for 96, as Baroda scored 456 in response to Odisha’s first innings total of 193.

Baroda then bowled out their opponents for 165. Mahesh Pithiya took a five-fer in the first innings, while Ninad Rathva’s six wickets in the second innings wrapped up the match in the hosts’ favour.

Hardik also shared two more studios, reposting a post made by Krunal following the match. One of these was a selfie taken by Krunal with the Baroda players and staff, celebrating a big win.

Baroda now sit comfortably at the top of Elite Group A in the Ranji Trophy, with three wins and 19 points, clear of Jammu and Kashmir in second place with 11 points. They will be favourites to reach the next round once again, having lost to a first innings lead against Mumbai in the quarterfinals last season.

Hardik Pandya will return in action vs SA in T20Is

Hardik Pandya, meanwhile, will be preparing to travel with the India white ball squad to South Africa, where they will play a four-match T20I series against the opponents they beat in the 2024 T20 World Cup final.

Pandya will be a key member of a young and rotated squad that will be captained by Suryakumar Yadav and coached by VVS Laxman, beginning on November 8 in Durban.

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