IT WILL be a battle among equals as defending champions Vidarbha take on an equally confident Uttar Pradesh in their Col CK Nayudu Trophy quarter-final match at Alembic 2 Cricket Ground in Vadodara starting from Tuesday.

With two huge innings’ wins and a shocking loss, Vidarbha finished best in the Elite Group D with 14 points. In their first game, they thrashed Chandigarh by an innings and 209 runs. In the next game they were stunned by Maharashtra by 29 runs in a close encounter where Vidarbha had taken a slender one-run first innings lead. But they regrouped well to triumph in the must-win game over Railways by an innings and 171 runs.

On the other hand, UP won all their three league matches, held in Bengaluru to top the Elite Group F with 19 points.

They were lucky to get way with a close four-run victory in their opening game against Himachal Pradesh. In the next match, they thumped Goa by ten wickets and in the last game beat Kerala by 164 runs.

Vidarbha’s middle-order batsman Mohit Kale accumulated highest number of runs for the team in the league stage hitting a towering 226 in the last game against Railways. The former skipper has 342 runs from four innings. Number three Yash Rathod and opener Aman Mokhade, with two centuries each, are also in good touch. Skipper-stumper Siddhesh Wath, Yash Kadam and Mandar Mahalle are dependable batsmen who can shift gears with ease.

On the bowling front, Vidarbha have been led by left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey, who has picked 24 wickets from three games and is third in the wicket-takers list (till the league stage) with three five-wicket hauls to his credit. His partner Parth Rekhade, with 14 scalps, has been equally good with the ball and on most occasions has shared the new ball with a seamer.

UP are also a well-balanced side. Opener Aanjaneya Suryavanshi has been in red-hot form hitting two centuries and equal number of fifties amassing 460 runs. Opener Siddharth Yadav and all-rounder skipper Sameer Choudhary are in fine form. Kunal Yadav and Prince Yadav, with 12 scalps each, are their best bowlers.

Vidarbha will have to be on their toes right through the match if they are to move one step closer to retaining the title.

THE TEAMS

Vidarbha: Siddhesh Wath (WK/Captain), Mohit Kale, Yash Rathod, Aman Mokhade, Aniruddha Choudhary, Mandar Mahalle, Yash Kadam, Satyam Bhoyar, Harsh Dubey, Parth Rekhade, Praful Hinge, Nachiket Bhute, Dushyant Tekan, Aditya Thakare, Ganesh Bhosale, Nayan Chavan, Sandesh Drugwar, Aniket Pande.

Uttar Pradesh: Sameer Choudhary (C), Sameer Rizvi, Aanjaneya Suryavanshi, Kritagya Singh, Siddharth Yadav, Prince Yadav, Sahab Yuvraj Singh, Pranjal Saini (wk), Kunal Yadav, Vineet Dubey, Karan Chaudhary, Yashovardhan Singh, Aaditya Sharma (wk), Anchit Yadav, Kunal Tyagi, Sunil Kumar, Purnank Tyagi, Nadeem, Rishabh Bansal.