By Vidarbha clinched a comfortable 62-run victory over Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy semifinal at the Vidarbha Cricket Association ground in Nagpur. Despite a solid start, Madhya Pradesh faltered in their chase of 300-plus runs on the last day, losing wickets at crucial junctures. Aditya Thakare and Yash Thakur were the pick of the bowlers for Vidarbha, striking twice apiece to dismantle the Madhya Pradesh innings.
Yash Dubey’s valiant 94 and his century stand with Harsh Gawli (67) had raised hopes for Madhya Pradesh, but once the partnership was broken, their innings crumbled. Venkatesh Iyer and Saransh Jain tried to revive the chase, but Vidarbha’s bowlers maintained control. Yash Rathod’s impressive 141 and a vital partnership with Akshay Wadkar (77) had earlier propelled Vidarbha to a competitive total in their second innings.
Madhya Pradesh will rue missing the opportunity to capitalize on a solid first innings lead built on Himanshu Mantri’s century. Despite Avesh Khan’s impressive bowling in the first innings, Vidarbha showed resilience and composure to set up a challenging target. With this win, Vidarbha has set up a final clash against Mumbai, who will be aiming for their 42nd Ranji Trophy title in their 48th final appearance.
Brief scores: Vidarbha 170 & 402 (Yash Rathod 141; Anubhav Agarwal 5-92) beat Madhya Pradesh 252 & 258 (Yash Dubey 94, Harsh Gawli 67; Akshay Wakhare 3-38, Yash Thakur 3-60) by 62 runs.
