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swerte gaming Vijay Hazare Trophy: Nair's Vidarbha Clinch Maiden Final Spot, Defeating Maharashtra By 69 Runs
Vidarbha skipper Karun Nair celebrating the win. Photo: Screengrab Vidarbha skipper Karun Nair celebrating the win. Photo: Screengrab Hundreds from Dhruv Shorey and Yash Rathodswerte gaming, combined with a blistering half-century by an in-form Karun Nair, propelled Vidarbha to a commanding 69-run victory over Maharashtra, securing their place in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final on Thursday. (Highlights | Cricket News)
Vidarbha will now take on four-time champions Karnataka in the title clash on Saturday.
After being sent in to bat, Vidarbha put up an imposing 380/3, courtesy of Shorey’s 114 off 120 balls, Rathod’s 116 off 101 balls and Nair’s unbeaten 88 (44 balls, 9 fours, 5 sixes). The openers, Shorey and Rathod, gave Vidarbha a dream start with a 224-run partnership in just 34.4 overs, seamlessly accelerating through the innings.
Maharashtra’s bowlers finally broke through when left-arm spinner Satyajeet Bachav bowled Rathod. Shorey followed soon after, caught by Ankit Bawne off Mukesh Choudhary. However, Karun Nair and Jitesh Sharma ensured Vidarbha ended their innings on a high, scoring freely in the final overs.
Chasing 381 was always a daunting task, and Maharashtra never looked in control. Despite solid efforts from Arshin Kulkarni (90) and Ankit Bawne (50), their middle-order failed to sustain the required momentum. Nikhil Naik’s quickfire 49 off 26 balls pushed Maharashtra past the 300-run mark, but they ultimately fell short at 311/7.
The third-wicket pair added 93 runs in about 10 overs as Vidarbha stormed past the 300-run mark.
Jitesh was ousted soon after making his fifty but Karun was in no mood to relent.
He plundered pacer Rajneesh Gurbani for 24 runs in the final over through a sequence of 4, 6, 4, 4 and 6 that saw him leaping from 38-ball 64 to 44-ball 88 as, in total, Vidarbha made over 100 runs in the last seven overs.
Karun too swelled his tally in this tournament to 752 runs at an unreal average of 752 and his career List A average too rocketed to 41.34 from pre-tournament 31.74.
Once Jitesh made a stunning tumbling catch to dismiss Maharashtra skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (7) off Darshan Nalkande early in the innings, the fate of the chase was clear.
Pacers Nalkande and Nachiket Bhute took three wickets apiece for Vidarbha.
slot parkThere were a couple of alliances — a 62 between Rahul Tripathi and Kulkarni for the second wicket and a 94 between Kulkarni and Bawne for the fourth wicket — but enough only to give a semblance of respectability to the Maharashtra total.
Vidarbha’s clinical performance with both bat and ball underscores their intent to clinch their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy title.
South Korea, meanwhile, are placed fourth in the standings with 6 points, with one win, three draws, and one loss. They were surpassed by China, who secured 2 wins and as many points. Korea’s season began with a 5-5 draw against Japan, followed by a 2-2 draw with Pakistan, their first victory with a 3-2 win over China, 3-1 loss at the hands of India and a 3-3 draw against Malaysia in their final pool match.
With PTI Inputsswerte gaming