Syed Mushtaq Ali T20: Vidarbha suffer first loss of the season

RAIPUR: With three wins each under their belt, it was a case of who blinks first. Vidarbha and Team Rajasthan had ticked most boxes in their first three matches. They played some good competitive cricket and showed more intensity than rest of the teams in the Central Zone Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 Tournament.
When they were up against each other on Saturday, a keen contest was expected.However, Rajasthan pacers—skipper Aniket Choudhary, Deepak Chahar and Khaleel Ahmed—showed they can adapt to different conditions. The Rajasthan pace trio bowled wicket to wicket and hardly provided anything loose to Vidarbha, who never got the momentum, kept losing wickets at important junctures and were restricted to 131-8 here at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium, in Raipur.
Ahmed bowled with venom and fire, bowled good yorkers and used his slower ones and bouncers with great effect. The left-arm pacer gave only 19 runs in his three-over spell and picked up two wickets of two set batsmen—Apoorv Wankhade (24, 28, 1x4)and Ganesh Satish (39, 31b, 4x4).
The low score allowed Rajasthan openers Ankit Lamba (26, 17b, 3x4, 1x6) and Aditya Garhwal (51, 54b, 3x4, 1x6) to play with lot more freedom. They attacked Vidarbha pacers right from the outset and provided a flying start. Their middle order capitalized perfectly and even though they lost wickets through run outs, Rajasthan finished the game with ease to qualify for the Super League stage. They chased the target in 18 overs.
With deep batting, Lamba and Garhwal took their chances. Lamba continued his good form and hit some audacious shots off Shrikant Wagh—an upper cut over third man. Vidarbha pacers failed to get early breakthroughs this time.
It came from a brilliant piece of work by wicketkeeper who made a full length diving stop to his right and threw the ball in same action to Thakur to see the back of Lamba. Faiz showed good reflexes on the field and sent back Sarfaraz Khan and Rajesh Bishnoi. Garhwal carried his bat through, while Tajinder Dhillon (26, 26b, 3x4) played sensibly to see their side home.
Vidarbha needed a rapid start after they won the toss and elected to bat. Faiz Fazal (20, 21b, 2x4) began well as he got two boundaries in the second over off Deepak Chahar. The next over changed all as the direct hit from allrounder Tajinder Dillon caught Jitesh Sharma short of crease. Rajasthan bowlers chipped in with few quiet overs.
Ganesh Satish got two full balls and dispatched both to the boundaries. He was looking to up the tempo when Faiz was trapped in front while trying to play scoop, though he looked unhappy with the decision. Ravi Jangid adventurous innings didn't last long. He hit big six to Mahipal Lomror, got reprieved at the deep midwicket boundary and then got stumped.
Wankhade and Satish too struggled to find boundaries. The Vidarbha innings slide upside down when Satish got holed at long on while trying to hit Ahmed for six. His departure affected Vidarbha's progress as only three runs came in the next two overs. Vidarbha also lost Akshay Karnewar too. Vidarbha could add just 35 in their last six overs.