Ramandeep Singh assured Mumbai Indians (MI) they did not make a mistake by retaining him for upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 as he bagged his maiden hat-trick in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy Group D clash on November 15 in Mumbai. Ramandeep picked up a fifer in just four overs he bowled to wrap up Baroda’s innings for a paltry 81 in 21st over which was chased down by Punjab in just 12 overs.
Baroda skipper Ambati Rayudu won the toss and opted to bat first. They got off to a decent start with a 57-run opening partnership. But Harpreet Brar ran out opener Adtiya Waghmode (24) which led to a dramatic collapse. Abhishek Sharma got rid of opener Jyotsnil Singh (29) and wicketkeeper-batter Mitesh Patel (2).
With two new batters in the middle, medium pacer took advantage of the situation and got the wickets of Vishnu Solanki, Ninad Rathva and skipper Rayudu off consecutive deliveries. All three batters got out without troubling the scorers. Ramandeep's fiery spell continued and he got the wickets of Atit Sheth (6) and Bhargav Bhath (7) off consecutive deliveries. Meanwhile, left-arm spinner Abhishek got his third wicket in the form of Bhany Pania (2).
As Baroda got all out for 81, Ramandeep finished with figures of 17/5 in four overs he bowled. Apart from the openers, no other Baroda batter could reach double digits.
Abhishek could not do well in the easy run chase and got out to Varun Aaron. But Prabhsimran Singh looked to end the run chase early. He targetted Aaron and remained not out for 62 off 48 deliveries including 11 fours and one six. On the other end, Anmolpreet remained not out for 14 runs off 21 deliveries as Punjab won the game by nine wickets with 38 overs to spare.
Later in the day, MI announced their list of retained and released players. They retained Ramandeep who they had picked for his base price of Rs 20 lakh in IPL 2022 mega auction. In the previous season, he had played five games and picked up six wickets at an average of nine including best bowling figures of 3/20.
