Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Third win in a row for Vidarbha

RAIPUR: MP coach Harvinder Singh Sodhi had jokingly said on Wednesday how they have asked their captain Harpreet Singh Bhatia to have a proper practice to toss the coin. With cold conditions and 9 am start, the toss has become vital in the ongoing Central Zone Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament.
Harpreet won his third successive toss and had no hesitation in having a crack at Vidarbha batsmen.As expected, the ball swung and seamed prodigiously at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium. It was a test of character for Vidarbha.
The Ranji Trophy champions have been showing plenty of it throughout the season. They did it again to record a fighting seven-run victory in Friday and moved closer to the knock-out stage. It was their third successive victory and unlike two previous ones, this was much closer to their comfort.
Ganesh Satish (35, 32b, 3x4) and Ravi Jangid (34, 28b, 1x4, 1x6) played sensibly after Vidarbha lost Faiz Fazal and Jitesh Sharma in 6.2 overs with 32 on the board. Satish and Jangid ran brilliantly and added 60 for the third wicket to put pressure back on MP bowlers.
The pair took on MP spinners—Ankit Sharma and Mihir Hirwani—to set a perfect platform for Apoorv Wankhade to launch the attack. Wankhede swung the momentum with his 34-ball 43-run blitzkrieg, which had four fours and three huge sixes as Vidarbha posted a fighting 156-5.
Vidarbha bowlers then executed their plans well and restricted MP to 149-7. They bowled enough dot balls to the MP top order. Ambidextrous Akshay Karnewar kept MP batsmen confused with his off and left-arm spin. His off spin earned him wickets of two left-handers—Parth Sahni and Harpreet.
MP needed someone to show more urgency after losing Harpreet in the 11th over as they required 97. The enterprising 71-run stand—which came off 41 balls—between Sohraab Dhaliwal (45, 25b, 3x4, 3x6) and debutant Anshul Tripathi (39, 28b, 6x4) did exactly that. Sohraab spoilt Karnewar's figures, launching him over deep mid-wicket and straight twice in two balls when MP required 51 off last four overs. Triptahi then swept him with one hand four to take 19 off the over.
Left-arm pacer Ravi Thakur then used his variations well to keep MP batsmen guessing and struck at crucial time when needed MP required 32 in the last three overs. His brilliant last spell swung the match in Vidarbha’s favour when Sohraab and Tripathi looked like taking the game away. Tripathi late cut Thakur for four but the latter bounced back, bowled straight as Tripathi edged it behind to Sharma.
With 25 in the last two overs, Sohraab smashed Wagh for a flat six but the left-arm pacer bowled a full delivery that uprooted his stumps. With 17 required to win in the last over, Puneet Datey hit Thakur for a six on the first ball. Thakur, however, stuck to his plans bowled two dot balls and picked Datey and Pandey in the last two overs to finish the game.
SCOREBOARD
Vidarbha: Faiz Fazal c Sharma b Pandey 5, Jitesh Sharma run out (Dhaliwal) 15, Ganesh Satish run out (Avesh Khan) 35, Ravi Jangid c Pandey b Hirwani 34, Apoorv Wankhade c Tripathi b Datey 43, Akshay Karnewar not out 10, Karn Sharma not out 0.
Extras: (b 8, lb 4, w 2) 14.
TOTAL: (5 Wkts, 20 overs) 156.
Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-32, 3-92, 4-115, 5-154.
Bowling: Ishwar Pandey 3-0-10-1, Avesh Khan 4-0-34-0, Puneet Datey 4-0-24-1, Mihir Hirwani 4-0-39-1, Ankit Sharma 4-0-26-0, S Dhaliwal 1-0-11-0.
Madhya Pradesh: R Patidar c Jangid b Thakur 13, N Ojha c Fazal b Wakhare 20, Harpreet Singh c Fazal b Karnewar 13, Parth Sahani b Karnewar 0, Anshul Tripathi c J Sharma b Thakur 39, S Dhaliwal b Wagh 45, Ankit Sharma c K Sharma b Wagh 3, Puneet Datey c Jangid b Thakur 7, Ishwar Pandey c Karnewar b Thakur 1, Mihir Hirwani not out 0.
Extras: (b 4, lb 1, w 3) 8.
Total: (9 wkts, 20 overs) 149.
Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-43, 3-44, 4-59, 5-130, 6-141, 7-141, 8-149, 9-149.
Bowling: Shrikant Wagh 3-0-23-2, Rajneesh Gurbani 4-0-19-0, Ravi Thakur 4-0-29-4, K Sharma 3-0-23-0, Akshay Wakhare 2-0-13-1, Akshay Karnewar 3-0-29-2, Ravi Jangid 1-0-8-0.