Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021: Vidarbha book semifinal berth with 9-wicket victory over Rajasthan

Electing
to
field,
Vidarbha
bowlers
wreaked
havoc
to
restrict
Rajasthan
to
a
sub-par
84/8
in
20
overs
before
their
batters,
led
by
opener
Atharva
Taide
(40
not
out
off
42
balls),
chased
down
the
target
with
5.1
overs
to
spare.

Rajasthan
lost
openers
Yash
Kothari
(1)
and
Arjit
Gupta
(0),
who
was
run
out
by
Ganesh
Satish,
cheaply
inside
the
first
two
overs
and
were
reeling
at
2/2.
It
soon
became
18/4,
as
Vidarbha
struck
again
twice.

Speedster
Darshan
Nalkande
(1/8)
removed
rival
skipper
Mahipal
Lomror
(11)
while
young
pacer
Yash
Thakur
(2/24)
dismissed
the
in-form
Deepak
Hooda
(3),
who
was
caught
by
Akshay
Wadkar.

The
Vidarbha
bowlers
kept
making
inroads
and
did
not
allow
the
Rajasthan
batters
to
set
in.
Only
Kamlesh
Nagarkoti’s
patient
39
off
48
balls
ensured
that
his
team
crossed
the
80-run
mark,
but
that
was
not
going
to
be
enough.

1

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For
Vidarbha,
Thakur
was
well
supported
by
fellow
pacers
Lalit
Yadav
(1/12)
and
Nalkande.

In-form
left-arm
orthodox
spinner
Akshay
Karnewar
returned
with
fine
figures
of
1/7
in
his
four
overs,
while
seasoned
off-spinner
Akshay
Wakhare
(1/21)
and
left-arm
orthodox
bowler
Atharva
Taide
(1/9)
also
played
their
parts
to
perfection.

Chasing
85,
Vidarbha
openers
Taide
and
Ganesh
Satish
(28
off
33
balls)
laid
the
foundation
of
the
win
with
their
63-run
stand.
They
took
on
a
listless
Rajasthan
attack
with
gusto.

While
Taide
hammered
four
boundaries,
Satish
also
hit
as
many
fours.
After
Satish
fell
in
the
11th
over,
Taide
romped
the
team
home
in
company
of
skipper
Akshay
Wadkar
(11
not
out).
Vidarbha
await
their
semifinal
opponents.

Brief
Scores:
Rajasthan
84/8
(Kamlesh
Nagarkoti
39
not
out,
Suraj
Ahuja
12;
Yash
Thakur
2/24,
Akshay
Karnewar
1/7)
lost
to
Vidarbha
87/1(Atharva
Taide
40
not
out,
Ganesh
Satish
28;
AV
Choudhary
1/4)
by
nine
wickets.