VIDARBHA recorded a consolation 19-run win over Andhra to sign off their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign at Ekana Cricket Stadium B in Lucknow on Monday. Only pride was at stake in the inconsequential last league match of Elite Group A as Vidarbha were already knocked out of the quarter-final race while Andhra, along with domestic giants Mumbai, made the cut.

 

 

 

As many as five teams finished on 12 points with three wins and four losses each. Vidarbha were sandwiched between pairs of Railways and Kerala above them while Odisha and Assam were below them with net run rate separating the teams. Put into bat, Vidarbha made a competitive 154-8 in 20 overs after yet another poor start. They lost last match’s half centurion Adhyayan Daga (1) on last ball of the first over. His opening partner Atharva Taide (14) too did not last long. When Dhruv Shorey (10) was also back in the hut, Vidarbha were 47-3. Regular opener Aman Mokhade (50), who came at number three like last game, hit another fifty, his third of the series. Mokhade and stumper Akshay Wadkar (41), playing his second match of the tournament and batting for the first time, helped the team to a respectable score.

 

While Mokhade slammed seven hits to the fence from 35 balls, Wadkar’s 33-ball knock contained two shots over the fence. Medium pacer PV Satyanarayana Raju with four wickets was pick of the Andhra bowlers. Vidarbha had a great start with the ball. India pacer Umesh Yadav reminded the IPL scouts that he still has cricket left in him with a superb opening spell. On very first delivery he got rid of another India discard stumper-opener Srikar Bharat caught by Taide. In his next over, Yadav cleaned up Shaik Rasheed. After skipper Harsh Dubey sent back Ashwin Hebbar and Saurabh Kumar, seamer Yash Thakur took the centre-stage running through the lower middle order. Andhra were restricted at 135-9 in 20 overs. Mokhade was adjudged Player of the Match. Senior men’s One-Day championship for the Vijay Hazare Trophy beginning on December 24 at Rajkot, will be the next assignment for senior team before remaining two games of Ranji Trophy kicks-off on January 22, 2026.