Baroda's 349 for 5 breaks world record for highest T20 total

Baroda broke the record for the highest total in men's T20 cricket when they smashed 349 for 5 against Sikkim in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Indore on Thursday. They surpassed Zimbabwe's 344 for 4 against Gambia in Nairobi in October.

In all, Baroda hit 37 sixes in their innings, shattering another T20 record. Zimbabwe were the holders of the record for most sixes (27) in an innings - also in that game against Gambia.

Shashwat Rawat, who was recently part of the India A side in the Duleep Trophy, and Abhimanyusingh Rajput, who clattered a 19-ball half-century, set the platform for Baroda's mammoth total with a 92-run opening partnership inside the powerplay. Bhanu Pania launched from that platform and went on to hit a century off 42 balls, including five fours and 15 sixes. He scored his first fifty off 20 balls and second off 22 balls.

This was Pania's first hundred in white-ball domestic cricket, in his 39th innings. He remained unbeaten on 134 off 51 balls, going at a strike rate of 262.75.

Shivalik Sharma and wicketkeeper-batter Vishnu Solanki also joined the run-spree, scoring half-centuries of their own. Shivalik hit 55 off 17 balls and Solanki 50 off 16 balls. Solanki fell in the 17th over when Baroda were ten short of 300, and though Hardik Pandya missed this game, Baroda still ended up breaking the world record. Four of the seven bowlers Sikkim used conceded at 20 or more per over.

Chasing 350, Sikkim managed only 86 for 7 in their 20 overs, with only two of their batters passing 15. Spinners Krunal Pandya, Ninad Rathva and Mahesh Pithiya picked up five wickets among them. Baroda wrapped up a 263-run win, the fourth biggest, in terms of runs, in T20 cricket.

Baroda have dominated the domestic season so far, topping Group A in the Ranji Trophy, with four outright wins in five games. In the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, they have won six out of their seven games so far.