Virtual Eliminator Vidarbha play Assam for place in quarters

 

 

 

VIDARBHA must win against Assam and still hope that other teams in fray do not win too big in their seventh and last league match to make knock-out stage of Vijay Hazare Trophy. It will be a Virtual Eliminator before the quarter-finals for Bengal and Baroda also. All the three teams in Elite Group B have 16 points each from four wins. With better Net Run Rate, last year’s finalists Vidarbha (0.950) are at second spot followed by Bengal (0.595) and Baroda (0.320) at third and fourth respectively.

 

Two teams from the group will move into the knock-outs. Table toppers Uttar Pradesh with an all win record have already made the cut. Vidarbha have had four convincing wins, a close loss to Bengal in the high-scoring tournament opener and their only blip came against Uttar Pradesh. They will like to forget that UP game and concentrate on Assam, who are sitting at seventh spot in the eight-team group. A win with a decent margin would help them secure the second spot in the group and book a place in the quarters. Led by Aman Mokhade, in red hot form with four tons from six outings, Dhruv Shorey and Ravikumar Samarth, who both have hundreds to their credit, Vidarbha batting looks good. Top knocks are due from other top-order batters like Atharva Taide, Yash Rathod and Ranji Trophy skipper Akshay Wadkar. Captain Harsh Dubey, a very capable batter, has also not fired with the willow.

 

All of them must fire in unison if Vidarbha are to score big. Bowlers have also done reasonably well on flat turfs. Bowling attack comprising vice-captain Yash Thakur, Nachiket Bhute, Praful Hinge and Darshan Nalkande need to keep a tight leash. Dubey and Parth Rekhade have controlled the middle overs admirably except for a few costly spells. It is expected that Vidarbha will not tinker with the playing eleven much but then ... surprise adds spice to the contest.

 

On head to head count, Vidarbha and Assam are one each. In their last meeting, Assam defeated Vidarbha in 2022 while Vidarbha got the better of them in 2017. Assam’s only win in the league came against Hyderabad. Bengal bowling attack looks very solid on paper with three India players in Mohammad Shami, Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep as the front-line seamers, but they have leaked runs resulting in two losses. Their final match against Uttar Pradesh make it much harder for them. In case, UP rest top players to give them rest before knock-outs, task will be cut out for Bengal. Though Baroda are at the fourth spot, they have players like Pandya brothers — Hardik and Krunal, and India stumper Jitesh Sharma who can up the ante and score at a brisk rate. The added advantage they have is they play the weakest opponents of the group in the form of Chandigarh in their last game. The last league matches of the group will be virtual eliminators.