THEY were termed as poor traders in the shortest format of the game but Vidarbha cricketers started in the right earnest as they registered twin wins in two days in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Cricket Tournament.

The Akshay Wadkar-led side first defeated Arunachal Pradesh on Diwali day and then thrashed Nagaland by five wickets in their next assignment on Friday to maintain a perfect record in the Plate Group at Gokaraju Liala Gangaaraju ACA Cricket Ground, Mulapadu in Vijaywada.

In their opening rubber against Arunachal Pradesh, Vidarbha (163) registered a huge 94 runs win to set the ball rolling. Pacer Darshan Nalkande was in top form as he rattled five Arunachal wickets to restrict them at 69 for 9. In the second engagement against Nagaland, they chased the target of 116 in 17.5 overs losing five wickets.

In their opening game, Vidarbha posted a huge 163 for six with hard-hitting batter Apoorv Wankhade top scoring with 28-ball 39. Vidarbha opener Siddhesh Wath knocked 36 runs from 23 deliveries with five balls to the fence and one over it. Though another opener Ganesh Satish could not make much of an impact scoring only five runs, captain Wadkar scored a run-a-ball 37 to keep the scoreboard ticking.

Jitesh Sharma added a 12-ball 18 with a couple of boundaries and a six while Wankhade hit two maximums and a four for his 39.

It was India pacer Umesh Yadav who took Vidarbha score past 160 with six-ball 17 runs hitting two sixes. For Arunachal, R B Bishnoi Jr took three wickets.

In reply, only two Arunachal batters managed to score in double digits. Captain Doria scored 10 while R B Bishnoi Jr scored 19. Nalkande generated enough pace to make it difficult for the opponents.

He took five wickets for nine runs which had 19 dots balls. Karnewar took two wickets.

In their second match, Vidarbha easily chased the target of 115 in 17.5 overs with five wickets in hand.

Nagaland’s 115 were scored due to efforts from opener R Jonathan (35) and captain Chetan Bist (44). Vidarbha pacer Yash Thakur took two wickets while Yadav, Nalkande and Akshay Wakhare took one each.

In reply, Vidarbha had a shaky start as they lost Wath in the second delivery of the innings. But promoted opener Atharva Taide (21) and Satish (39) steadied the ship with a 42 runs partnership. Karnewar then took the mettle and hit 28-ball 35 with four boundaries and a six to seal the deal for Vidarbha.

Vidarbha will take on Meghalaya in their next match on Saturday.