Vidarbha Defeated Maharashtra and Entered Final Of Vijay Hazare Trophy Final: Apart from the centuries of Dhruv Shorey and Yash Rathod, and the half-century of in-form Karun Nair, Vidarbha has entered the final of Vijay Hazare Trophy ODI cricket tournament by defeating Maharashtra by 69 runs here on Thursday (16 January 2025). Vidarbha will face four-time champion Karnataka in the title match here on Saturday. Vidarbha, when invited to bat first, scored 114 runs from Shorey (120 balls, 14 fours, one six), Rathore’s 116 runs (101 balls, 14 fours, one six) and Nair’s unbeaten 88 runs (44 balls, 1 six). Thanks to nine fours, five sixes), a huge score of 380 runs was made for three wickets.
In response, Maharashtra team never looked in a position to achieve the target and despite half-centuries from Arshin Kulkarni (90) and Ankit Bawne (50) could only score 311 runs for seven wickets. In the end, Nikhil Naik played an aggressive inning of 49 runs in 26 balls and took Maharashtra’s score beyond 300 runs. Earlier, openers Shorey and Rathore gave a great start to Vidarbha by adding 224 runs in 34.4 overs.
This partnership was broken when left arm spinner Satyajit Bachav dismissed Rathore. Shorey also returned to the pavilion after four overs after giving an easy catch to Bawne on the ball of fast bowler Mukesh Chaudhary. Despite both of them getting out early, Maharashtra did not get any relief. Nair and wicketkeeper batsman Jitesh Sharma (51 runs, 33 balls, three fours, three sixes) played big shots continuously. This pair added 93 runs for the third wicket in about 10 overs and took Vidarbha beyond 300 runs.
Jitesh was out immediately after scoring his half-century but Karun scored 24 runs in the last over with two sixes and three fours off fast bowler Rajneesh Gurbani. Vidarbha gave away more than 100 runs in the last seven overs. Karun also took his number of runs to 752 in this tournament with an incredible average of 752. His List A career average also increased from 31.74 before the tournament to 41.34.
While chasing the target, Maharashtra quickly lost the wicket of captain Ruturaj Gaikwad (07) who was caught by Jitesh off the ball of Darshan Nalkande. After this, Maharashtra team never looked in a position to achieve the target. For Vidarbha, fast bowlers Nalkande and Nachiket Bhute also took three wickets each.
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