VIDARBHA opener Aman Mokhade continued with purple patch hitting his fourth hundred of the tournament but found himself on losing side as Vidarbha lost to Uttar Pradesh in their sixth round league match of Vijay Hazare Trophy in Rajkot on Tuesday. UP amassed 339-5 in the allotted overs. Vidarbha have scored in excess of 300 runs while batting first and also while chasing this season. Mokhade (147; 117b, 17x4, 2x6) once again stood tall but lost partners at a very regular intervals. Opener Atharva Taide (12; 22b, 1x4), in-form Dhruv Shorey (5; 12b), Yash Rathod (19; 31b) and Ravikumar Samarth (17; 26b), who collectively hit just one four, were back in the hut with scoreboard reading 160-4 in 30.3 overs. Mokhade, who scored all round the wicket, finally found a good ally in Ranji Trophy skipper Akshay Wadkar (51*; 47b, 4x4, 1x6) and the duo took the score to 245 when the latter retired.

 

 

After addition of just one run, Mokhade perished. In the score of 246, he had the Lion’s share of 147 runs! The lower half, including skipper Harsh Dubey, could not do much as the asking rate kept on rising. Vidarbha were finally restricted at 285-9 with Wadkar completing his sixth List A fifty. India wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav was pick of the UP bowlers with three scalps.

 

Vipraj Nigam took two including that of the big fish Mokhade. With 634 runs, Mokhade is leading the top scorers’ chart. He has the best average and best strike rate among the top four batters. With 70 fours, he is way ahead of second placed Karnataka opener Devdutt Padikkal, who has also tonked four hundreds like Mokhade. (See table). Earlier, Vidarbha’s decision to field first did not yield good results. With century from opener Abhishek Goswami (103; 109b, 10x4, 2x6) and fifties from India batters Dhruv Jurel (56; 61b, 5x4, 1x6) and Rinku Singh (57 retired hurt; 30b, 4x4, 2x6), and Priyam Garg (67; 49b, 6x4, 3x6), UP posted a big score. For Vidarbha, Nachiket Bhute, Yash Thakur, Parth Rekhade and Harsh Dubey picked one each. With an all win record, UP have made it to the knock-out stage with one game remaining. Thanks to some other results in the group, Vidarbha held on to their second spot. Bengal and Baroda also have 16 points each but are placed third and fourth respectively. Last matches of these teams, to be played on January 8, will decide who move in the next stage along with UP.