Vidarbha Book Final Berth with 69-Run Victory Over Maharashtra

Vidarbha booked their place in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final with a convincing 69-run victory over Maharashtra.

Vidarbha were put in to bat for the first time in the tournament, but the openers showed no hesitation as they smashed 12 runs in the opening over.

Yash Rathod (116) and Dhruv Shorey (114) registered a 238-run stand to set a solid platform upfront. Karun Nair (88*) and Jitesh Sharma (51) took control after taking some time to settle in, scoring 97 runs in the last six overs to propel Vidarbha to 380 in their allotted overs.

In reply, Maharashtra were never really in the run chase. They lost skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad early for just seven, and the promotion of Rahul Tripathi didn't work out despite a breezy 27.

Arshin Kulkarni scored 90 but it was below a run-a-ball which didn't help the chasing side. Ankit Bawne scored 50 as the two batters put on a 96-run stand but across 14 overs. Nikhil Naik then glittered with 49 off 26 but it only managed to take Maharashtra past the 300-mark.

Brief Scores:

• Vidarbha: 380/3 (Yash Rathod 116, Dhruv Shorey 114, Karun Nair 88*)
• Maharashtra: 311/7 (Arshin Kulkarni 90, Ankit Bawne 50)