After a spectacular show at league stage, Akshay Wadkar-led Vidarbha will take on Chhattisgarh in the pre-quarterfinal match of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy to be played at Javadpur University Campus in Kolkata on Sunday.
At league stage, Vidarbha finished second from group 'A' with 20 points whereas Mumbai topped the tally with 24. Out of seven matches, Vidarbha managed to win five and lost two.
On the other hand Chhattisgarh entered the knockout from group E. They secured 18 points after winnning four matches out of six, lost one and one match was abandoned.
Vidarbha batsmen are in good form. Explosive middle order batsman Apoorv Wankhade has scored 211 runs in 7 matches. Atharva Taide (200), Akshay Wadkar (192), Jitesh Sharma (149) would like to carry the momentum in the knockout math also.
Among the bowlers, Vidarbha have experienced Umesh Yadav in the squad. Gujarat Titans bowler in IPL Darshan Nalkande in IPL who is the fastest to reach 50 wickets in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is really bowling well and has taken ten wickets in 7 matches. Yash Thakur (9) is also in good form. All in all the combined efforts so far has prouced some positive results for Vidarbha. The team management would like another such fabulous performances in the remaining part of the tournamemt.
Vidarbha's road to knockouts.
Oct 11 Beat Assam by six wickets
Oct1 12 Lose to Rajastan by nine wkts
Oct 14 Drub Mizoram by 114 runs
Oct 16 Lose to Mumbai by 15 runs
Oct 18 Beat Uttarakhand by two runs
Oct 20 Beat Madhya Pradesh by 22 runs
Oct 22 Beat Railways by six wickets