Earlier today, in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), Baroda broke all records by registering the highest ever total in T20 cricket. Baroda posted an incredible total of 349/5 in their 20 overs during a match against Sikkim, breaking Zimbabwe’s recently set record for highest team score in a T20 innings. Zimbabwe had scored 344/4 against Gambia in October, but their record lasted just over a month.

Baroda also broke the record for most sixes in T20 innings, smashing 37 maximums to surpass Zimbabwe’s 27 sixes in the same game against Gambia. Notably, this was the first total of more than 300 in the history of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

A major architect of this Baroda carnage was an unbeaten 51-ball, 134-run knock by Bhanu Pania. Coming to bat at No. 3, Pania hit at a blistering strike rate of 263, where he hit 5 fours and 15 sixes to smash his way to his century in stunning fashion.

Bhanu Pania reveals Mumbai Indians (MI) star’s role in his quick century

After the stellar knock, Pania expressed his gratitude to a Mumbai Indians (MI) star for his crucial contribution. The 28-year-old has revealed that MI captain Hardik Pandya, who is also part of the Baroda team, gave the national star his own bat.

“Hardik Pandya gifted me a bat and today I only scored 134 runs against Sikkim,” Pania told Insidesport.

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Barring Pania, Abhimanyu Singh (53), Shivalik Sharma (55) and Vishnu Solanki (50) also scored quick half-centuries to propel Baroda to a massive total and eventually won the contest comfortably by a huge margin of 263 runs.

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