Even after conceding a first innings lead to Rajasthan in previous match at Jaipur, Vidarbha succeeded in maintaining its position on top. Rajasthan (19), Haryana (17) followed them in the points tally. On the other hand, Maharashtra is on sixth place with just 11 points to their credit. They have registered just one outright victory and faced defeat in two matches. They earned first innings lead victory in two matches
Vidarbha has good season so far. In five matches, they recorded victories in two and lost one. Their match against Rajasthan ended in a tame draw. Therefore, Vidarbha would like to win the match and confirm their place for knockout stage and Maharashtra will also go for an outright victory to remain in contention. More than batters, Vidarbha bowlers so far played an important role in Vidarbha's success. Pacer Aditya Thakare has so far taken 23 wickets in five matches and is top wicket taker for home side. Left arm spinner Aditya Sarwate (21 in five matches) and Umesh Yadav (19 in four matches) also delivered their bes.t
The team management is expecting the same contribution from them in the remaining two ties. Among the batters, left-handed Atharva Taide is consistent and has scored 267 runs in three matches. Karun Nair who scored a century against Rajasthan in the previous encounter has scored 247 in five matches and back in form after some failures with bat. Another professional Dhruv Shorey is yet to click. Skipper Akshay Wadkar (241) is also among the run.
All in all, Vidarbha will battle it out to maintain their top position and Maharashtra will struggle for survival.
Teams
Vidarbha: Akshay Wadkar, Aditya Sarwate (vc), Shubham Dubey, Harsh Dubey,
Mohit Kale, Lalit Yadav, Karun Nair, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Rathod, Sanjay Raghunath,
Dhruv Shorey, Aditya Thakare, Akshay Wakhare, Siddhesh Wath, Umesh Yadav and
Yash Thakur.
Maharashtra: Kedar Jadhav (c), Ankit Bawne, Om Bhosale, Pradeep Dadhe, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Azim Kazi, Vishant More, Nikhil Naik, Vicky Ostwal, Ashay Palkar, Naushad Shaikh,
Dhanraj Shinde, Prashant Solanki, Siddhesh Veer and Hitesh Walunj.