WITH four victories in their bag, Vidarbha qualified for the quarter-finals phase of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy in Vizag on Tuesday. In their last league match, Vidarbha defeated Chhattisgarh by 16 runs to finish at the top of Group D. Vidarbha’s previous match against the Railways was abandoned because of inclement weather. Vidarbha’s only loss in the Group D came against Chandigarh. They completed their league engagements with 18 points in their kitty.

 

As per the tournament rules, all Group toppers will directly play the quarter-finals, while the second-placed teams in the groups will feature in the pre-quarter-finals to be played in Bengaluru from December 9. Railways defeated Chandigarh by five wickets in the evening session which helped Vidarbha end as Group D toppers, irrespective of the result of the last round of league matches to be played on Dec 5. Even if Railways win their last match, they will finish with 16 points. The line-up for the pre-quarters and quarters will be decided after the final round of matches end on Thursday. On Tuesday, Mandar Mahale starred with both bat and ball to script Vidarbha victory. Mahale (39, 30b 6x3) added 53 runs with Shubham Dubey (52 not out) for the fourth wicket to help Vidarbha post 206-5 in 20 overs. Dubey, who remained unbeaten on 52 off 31 balls, hit four sixes and a boundary.

 

He added 57 runs with skipper Jitesh Sharma whose power-packed knock of 38 came in only 14 balls with three sixes and as many boundaries. Apporv Wankhade smacked two sixes in the death overs to guide Vidarbha past the 200-run mark. Darshan Nalkande (3-42) and Yash Thakur (2-29) combined to keep Chhattisgarh in check. Mahale also bowled well, claiming one wicket for 38 runs to take away the Player of the Match award. Brief scores: Vidarbha: 206-5 in 20 overs (Atharv Taide 34, Mandar Mahale 39, Shubham Dubey 52 NO., Jitesh Sharma 38; Shashank Singh 3-41). Chhattisgarh: 190 all out in 19.5 overs (A Tiwary 89; Darshan Nalkande 3-42, Yash Thakur 2-29). Result: Vidarbha won by 16 runs.