Vidarbha off to a winning start

Meghalaya won the toss and elected to field first. Vidarbha scored a good total of 243 for nine in 50 overs. Thanks to former Karnataka batter Karun Nair who scored 67 in 80 balls hitting five boundaries. Earlier Vidarbha lost first wicket for just seven runs when Dippu trapped Dhruv Shorey in front of stumps. After his departure captain Atharva Taide (35, 44b, 6x4) and Aman Mokhade (17, 31b, 2x4) played crucial first hour confidently and made 51 run partnership for the second wicket. When the skipper looked settled, Dippu caught and bowled him. Mokhade too didn't last long and thus Vidarbha lost three wickets for 63. Then Nair and experienced wicketkeeper batsman Akshay Wadkar (36, 49b, 2x4) developed a good partnership by rotating the strike and punishing poor deliveries. In the process Nair completed his half century. They added 73 run for fourth wicket partnerhsip before Wadkar became victim of Dippu. Karun Nair's resistance came to an end when Jaskirat caught him off Dippu with 187 runs on board. After his departure tailenders Harsh Dubey (20*, 23b, 2x4), pacer Darshan Nalkande (20, 26, 1x4), Saurabh Dubey (16) and Nachiket Bhute (13) contributed. In reply, Meghalaya lost their wickets at regular intervals and were bowled out for 211 in 48.1 overs. Thanks to Darshan Nalkande who finished with an impressive figures of 9.1-1-35-3. He was well supported by Rajnessh Gurbani (10-0-502), and Akshay Karnewar (10-2-24-2). Harsh Dubey and Atharva Taide were chipped in with one each. For Meghalaya Kishan Lyndoh (57, 75b, 7x4) and Swarjeet Das (44, 46b, 3x4) were the main scorers. Vidarbha will play their next match against Manipur on Saturday.

Brief scores

Vidarbha: 243 for 9 inn 50 overs (Karun Nair 67, Akshay Wadkar 36, Atharva Taide 35, Harsh Dubey and Darshan Nalkande 20 each, Dippu 4 for 43)

Meghalaya: 211 all out in 48.1 overs (Kishan Lyndoh 57, Swarajeet Das 44, Nakul Verma 34, Darshan Nalkande 3 for 35), Rajneesh Gurbani (2 for 59), Akshay Karnewar (2 for 24).

Result: Vidarbha won by 32 runs