Nair stars in Vidarbha’s 8-wkt win over Assam

 

VIDARBHA professional Karun Nair continued his roseate form as he hit his third half century of Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Tournament this season helping his side thrash Assam by eight wickets in Vizag on Friday. Nair who has slammed 77 against Odisha and 65 against Pondicherry in previous games, produced another superlative show with the bat hitting a 47-ball 75 as Vidarbha coasted to their third win of the competition. Vidarbha bowlers, led by Dipesh Parwani (3-23, Parth Rekhade (2-17) and Yash Thakur (2-31) combined to bowl out Assam for 123 in 19.1 overs.

 

Even though they lost opener Atharva Taide cheaply, Nair and Mandar Mahale batted aggressively to raise 105 runs in only 70 balls for the second wicket to set up the victory. Nair hit eight boundaries and four sixes in a power packed knock to bag his third Player of the Match award. Mahale remained unbeaten on 31 off 27 balls and saw his team home in the company of his captain Jitesh Sharma. Vidarbha now have 12 points from four matches and have two matches — vs Railways and Chhattisgarh — remaining. Brief Scores: Assam: 123 all out in 19.1 overs (Denish Das 31; Dipesh Parwani 3-23, Parth Rekhade 2-17, Yash Thakur 2-31). Vidarbha: 124-2 in 14 overs (Karun Nair 75, Mandar Mahale 31 NO). Result: Vidarbha won by 8 wickets. Man of the Match: Karun Nair.