Vidarbha eyeing another title, to take on TN in final

The same team won Vinoo Mankad Trophy in October, are in line for a double crown. Vidarbha, who won the Cooch Behar title in 2018-19, are in top form.

In the semi-final played at Kalamna, they defeated a strong Karnataka side. Having scored 450 in the first innings, Vidarbha shot out the visitors for 197 and then batted again to score 374-9.

In the quarter-final, Vidarbha overcame Maharashtra in Pune. Vidarbha amassed 494 runs and then bowled out the hosts for 230.

In the league games, Vidarbha beat Odisha by an innings and 186 runs; thumped Bihar by an innings and 356 runs in their own backyard in Patna; took first innings lead against Haryana in Barwala; Vidarbha beat Andhra by 77 runs after recording a huge innings and 515 runs win over Manipur in the tournament opener. The first two games of the meet were played at Kalamna.

Vidarbha have in their side the top-scorer of the tournament in the form of middle-order batsman Danish Malewar who has scored 1020 runs from seven matches with a top score of unbeaten 300. He has four hundred to his credit. Among top-batters of the tourney, Jagjot Singh Sasan has 594 runs, Rohit Binkar has made 574 runs and opener Neel Athaley has made 552 runs. The batsmen have scored at home and away games.

In the bowling department, left-arm seamer Rajsingh Chauhan has done a good job taking 28 wickets in the season. He is aided by another new ball bowler Pratham Maheshwari who has snared 20 wkts. Spinners Gaurav Farde, Ashit Singh and Jagjot have hunt in group to share the spoils. Gaurav has always provided crucial breakthroughs.

Team

Vidarbha: Mohd Faiz (C), Jagjot Singh Sasan (VC), Danish Malewar, Tushar Suryavanshi, Ryan Rajput, Rohit Binkar, Neel Athaley, Zubairoddin, Pratham Maheshwari, Rajsingh Chauhan, Sanyog Bhagwat, Dharmendra Thakur, Ashit Singh, Gaurav Farde, Varun Bisht. Coach: Usman Ghani. Manager: Jitendra Dharbe. Physio: Dr Vinay Manvatkar. Trainer: Harshal Baniya.