Aman Mokhade delivered his fifth century of the Vijay Hazare Trophy season, propelling Vidarbha to a decisive six-wicket victory over defending champions Karnataka, securing their spot in the tournament’s final on Thursday.
Mokhade (138 off 122 balls) and R Samarth (76 not out off 69 balls) were pivotal in Vidarbha’s chase of 284 for four, surpassing Karnataka’s total of 280 all out, which was bolstered by half-centuries from Karun Nair and KL Shrijith.
Pacer Darshan Nalkande (5/48) played a crucial role in stalling Karnataka’s progress towards the end. Vidarbha will face the winner of the second semifinal between Punjab and Saurashtra in the final on Sunday.
Vijay Hazare Trophy Semi-Final: Karnataka Vs Vidarbha – Highlights
How Vidarbha Beat Karnataka?
Vidarbha had never previously
beaten Karnataka in the country’s premier 50-over domestic competition and chose the perfect occasion to break that jinx, with Mokhade playing an instrumental role through his determined innings.
After losing his opening partner Atharva Taide early in the chase, Mokhade persevered against the confident Karnataka bowlers, a challenging situation, and cramps towards the end of his innings, reaching a century in 101 balls.
He was involved in two significant partnerships — a 99-run second-wicket stand with the impressive Dhruv Shorey (47) and a 147-run third-wicket partnership with Samarth, who dazzled against his former team with a series of brilliant shots.
Pacer Vysakh Vijaykumar had to leave the field due to a concussion after the 20th over, which hampered Karnataka’s bowling in the middle overs. Vysakh had been struck on the helmet by pacer Yash Thakur in the last over of Karnataka’s innings, with Manvanth Kumar coming in as a concussion substitute.
Mokhade reached his century with a flicked four off pacer Vidyadhar Patil and celebrated with enthusiasm. The 24-year-old right-hander eventually played a tired-looking shot off Patil, which was caught by Devdutt Padikkal inside the circle. By then, he had secured the match for Vidarbha.
Earlier, Karnataka produced an up-and-down batting performance to reach a somewhat competitive total. Their innings started slowly, with only 33 runs in the first 10 overs, during which they lost both openers, Mayank Agarwal and Devdutt Padikkal. Agarwal was trapped in front by pacer Nachiket Bhute, while Devdutt edged a gem of a delivery from Yash Thakur to wicketkeeper Rohit Binkar.
However, a period of stability followed, as Karun and Dhruv Prabhakar, who replaced the injured R Smaran, added 54 runs for the third wicket. Prabhakar looked in good form but was hurried into a pull shot by Nalkande, caught at square leg by Shorey.
Karun and KL Shrijith then formed a solid 113-run partnership for the fourth wicket. While Karun struggled with his timing, he supported the more fluent Shrijith. Karun displayed glimpses of his shot-making abilities and was fortunate when Yash Rathod caught him just outside the boundary line off Bhute. Karun reached his fifty in 73 balls, which seemed to ease his nerves.
Both Karun and Shrijith accelerated the scoring from that point, with the 31st over yielding 15 runs and 11 runs in the 33rd over, contributing to a total of 31 runs in just three overs. However, Vidarbha regained control as Nalkande dismissed Karun and Shrijith fell six runs later, with Karnataka slipping to 193 for five.
Karnataka received a mini boost from Shreyas Gopal (36) and Abhinav Manohar (26), who added 55 runs for the sixth wicket. But the home side lost a flurry of wickets towards the end, losing momentum and additional runs.
(With inputs from Agencies)
