Nagpur,
Vidarbha will take on Railways in the must-win group 'A' encounter of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty-20 Cricket Tournament at Rajkot on Saturday.
In the points tally, Mumbai are placed in the top spot with 20 points winning five matches out of six and losing only one. Vidarbha are following them with 16 points (four wins and two losses) whereas Uttarakhand too have 16 points to their credit. All three teams are in contention to seal the spot in knockout stage. However, only top two will qualify. Therefore, Vidarbha will have to win their last league match against Railways who have 12 points.
Vidarbha batters and bowers especially pacers have been doing well. Vidarbha batsmen skipper Akshay Wadkar (188 runs in six matches) opener Atharva Taide (169) and explosive batsman Jitesh Sharma (146) are in tremendous form. The team management would like one extraordinary performance from them in the crucial tie.
Among the bowlers, Darshan Nalkande has claimed nine wickets in six matches. Left arm spinner Aditya Sarwate (8) is also bowling well.
Vid women to lock horns with Chandigarh in crucial tie
Although Vidarbha women are on top in the points tally, they will have to win their last league match against Chandigarh to qualify comfortably for knockout stage in group 'C' in Senior Women Twenty-20 Cricket Trophy match to be played at Dr P.V.G. Raju ACA Sports Complex, Vizianagaram on Saturday.
With four victories out of five matches, Vidarbha are on top with 16 points followed byy Mumbai (12), Bengal (12) and Puducherry (12). If Vidarbha manage to win t eh they will qualify comfortably for the knockout stage. Otherwise, they will have to depend on the outcome of other matches.
Vidarbha have an edge over rival Chandigarh who are already out of contention. Captain Disha Kasat who are in third place among the highest run scorer (195 in five matches) would like to display another fabulous performance in the crucial match. However for that she needed some good support from other end.