Vidarbha Vs Maharashtra, VHT 2nd Semifinal Highlights: Rathod And Shorey's Tons Seal 69-Run Win For VID, Secure Maiden Final Spot

Vidarbha🌳 Squad: Dhruv Shorey, Yash Rathod, Karun Nair(c), Apoorv Wankhade, Jitesh Sharma(w), Shubham Dubey, Harsh Dubey, Nachiket Bhute, Yash Kadam, Yash Thakur, Darshan Nalkande, Aditya Thakare, Atharva Taide, Parth Rekhade, Aman Mokhade, Praful Hinge, Akshay Wadkar

Maharashtra🌸 Squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Arshin Kulkarni, Siddhesh Veer, Ankit Bawne, Rahul Tripathi, Azim Kazi, Nikhil Naik(w), Satyajeet Bachhav, Rajneesh Gurbani, Mukesh Choudhary, Pradeep Dadhe, Prashant Solanki, Divyang Hinganekar, RS Hangargekar, Hitesh Walunj, Dhanraj Shinde, Om Bhosale.

꧂Vidarbha Vs Maharashtra, 2nd Semi-final in the VHT 2024-25 toss and playing XIs coming up shortly from Vadodara.

🉐Maharashtra have won the toss and have opted to field against Vidarbha in Vadodara.

Playing XIs

Vidarbha:꧟ Dhruv Shorey, Yash Rathod, Karun Nair(c), Apoorv Wankhade, Jitesh Sharma(w), Shubham Dubey, Harsh Dubey, Nachiket Bhute, Parth Rekhade, Yash Thakur, Darshan Nalkande

Maharashtra:🦩 Ruturaj Gaikwad(w/c), Arshin Kulkarni, Siddhesh Veer, Ankit Bawne, Rahul Tripathi, Azim Kazi, Nikhil Naik, Satyajeet Bachhav, Mukesh Choudhary, Rajneesh Gurbani, Pradeep Dadhe

𓄧The opening pair of Dhruv Shorey and Yash Rathod came to open the innings of Vidarbha and Rajneesh Gurbani started with the first over for Maharashtra. Shorey hit three boundaries in the first over to start Vidarbha's batting.

VID - 12/0 (1)

꧂The openers have done well so far by soaking the pressure and not letting their opponents dominate in the game. After a good first over, they waited for only bad deliveries and extracted runs on them.

VID - 30/0 (6)

🌜Ruturaj Gaikwad looked desperate for a wicket when he introduced a spinner in the 10th over of the game. Arshin Kulkarni came to bowl the 10th over after Pradeep Dadhe, who bowls medium-pace. The openers are going good and looking for a big first-wicket stand.

VID - 49/0 (10)

꧂Vidarbha's openers, Dhruv Shorey (40*) and Yash Rathod (39*), have laid a solid foundation.

♛The duo has stitched together an unbeaten 80-run stand in 15.1 overs. The Maharashtra bowlers are struggling to find a breakthrough.

VID - 80/0 (15)

𒈔Vidarbha are off to a flying start. At the end of 25.3 overs, they are cruising at 144/0, with an impressive opening stand between Yash Rathod (77 off 74) and Dhruv Shorey (64 off 79). The partnership of 144 runs has come off 153 balls. Maharashtra's bowlers, including Siddhesh Veer and Satyajeet Bachhav, have struggled to find breakthroughs.

VID: 143/0 (25)

♑Openers Dhruv Shorey and Yash Rathod laid a solid foundation, with both players reaching magnificent centuries. However, Maharashtra finally broke the partnership at 224/1 in 34.4 overs when Yash Rathod was bowled by Satyajeet Bachhav.

🐬Rathod scored a stellar 116 off 101 balls, including 14 fours and a six.

🐲At the crease now, Dhruv Shorey remains unbeaten on 105, while Karun Nair has just joined him.

♏Vidarbha look set for a massive total as they currently stand at 225/1 after 34.5 overs.

🅘The match continues to heat up as another wicket fall for Vidarbha.

🎶After Dhruv Shorey’s impressive 114, Mukesh Choudhary strikes again, sending the opener back to the pavilion, caught at backward point by Bawne off a short, wide delivery.

🐈Shorey’s departure leaves Vidarbha at 245/2 in the 38.2 overs, with Karun Nair at the crease alongside Jitesh Sharma, who has joined the action after Shorey’s exit.

VID: 274/2 (43.2)

Vidarbha have managed to reach 319/2 after 46.5 overs, with Karun Nair and Jitesh Sharma in commanding form.

💧Nair, on 45* (36), and Sharma, on 38* (26), have added a solid 74-run partnership off 51 balls.

VID: 325/2 (47)

🍬Vidarbha finish their innings at a massive 380/3 after 50 overs, setting a challenging target for Maharashtra.

༺The final five overs saw a flurry of boundaries, with 97 runs coming off them. Karun Nair was the star, finishing with an explosive 88 off 44 balls, maintaining a remarkable striking rate.

𒀰Jitesh Sharma helped with a quickfire 51 off 33 balls before being dismissed by Mukesh Choudhary.

VID: 380/3 (50)

Maharashrta's chase got off to a shaky start with Ruturaj Gaikwad ⭕being dismissed for 7, caught by Jitesh Sharma off Darshan Nalkande’s bowling.

💯Despite a solid start from Rahul Tripathi (10 off 3), the task ahead remains monumental. Arshin Kulkarni is at the crease alongside Tripathi.

MAH: 22/1(4)

💎Rahul Tripathi was looking solid, but now he's gone! He edges a delivery from Nachiket that moves just enough, and the keeper takes a simple catch. That's the second wicket down for Maharashtra.

ꦇSiddhesh Veer is at the crease now and gets off the mark with a quick double.

MAH 57-2(10)

ꦓDubey pitches it to Siddhesh, who steps forward and drives it to long off for a single. A misfield lets them run two. Five runs come off the over. Next, Nachiket delivers. Siddhesh drives it to mid off for a single and then cuts the last ball past point for another run. Three runs come off the over.

♚Arshin Kulkarni hits a boundary off Nalkande, flicking one on the pads past short fine leg for four. A single to the legside brings up his half-century. He'll need to accelerate and start hitting big if his team is to chase this down. Nine runs come off the over.

⛎Nalkande bowls short of a length to Bawne, who punches it to extra cover. Bawne then cuts a wide delivery through gully, but Nalkande makes a good effort to prevent the boundary. Earlier, at 27 overs, MAH were 140/3, with Bawne playing a sweep shot against Rekhade to clear the short midwicket fielder and find the boundary, bringing six runs off the over.

Arshin and Bawne bring up a solid 50-run partnership, starting with a single off the first ball. There’s an overthrow at the bowler’s end, giving them another run. Arshin then flicks one into the gap on the leg side, beating the diving ༒midwicket fielder for a four. He follows it up with another boundary, slashing a wide delivery past point for four more!

In the 44th over, Yash Thakur ✃continues, Kazi attempts to make room but Thakur follows him closely, and Kazi clips the ball fine for a single. Nikhil Naik then takes charge, pulling a back-of-a-length delivery over midwicket for a maximum, sending it sailing into the crowd for six.

🐻Vidarbha triumphed over Maharashtra by 69 runs, securing their place in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final for the first time. Batting first, Vidarbha posted a formidable 380/3 in 50 overs. In response, Maharashtra managed 311/7 in their 50 overs.

🐷The final will see Vidarbha face Karnataka, with Karun Nair leading his team in exceptional form, boasting an impressive average of 752 in the competition.

🔯It's Vidarbha vs Karnataka in the final, scheduled to be played on Saturday, January 18, at the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium.

▨That's all from this match. We'll bring you more live blogs soon. Until then, good night.