Vijay Hazare Trophy | Ton-up Mokhade steers Vidarbha to second successive final

Vidarbha have found Karnataka to be an unshakable force in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, having lost all their four previous encounters, including last season’s final. For the reigning Ranji Trophy champions to break that streak, someone had to deliver a standout performance. Talented youngster Aman Mokhade, Vidarbha’s best batter this season, did so by smashing a scintillating century to send them soaring into the final with a six-wicket victory here on Thursday.

The 24-year-old Mokhade scored a measured 138 off 122 balls (12x4, 2x6) — his fifth century of this VHT — to anchor a tricky target of 281 to perfection in the company of former Karnataka player R Samarth (76 not out, 69b, 7x4) — the duo forging a 147-run stand for third wicket — at the BCCI Centre’s of Excellence. Vidarbha will take on the winners of Friday’s semifinal between Saurashtra and Punjab in the title clash at the same venue on Sunday.

From the time Mokhade strode out to the crease along with his opening partner Atharva Taide, he seemed to have a plan in place against the defending champions. Initially, when pacers Vidwath Kaverappa and Abhilash Shetty were making the new ball talk, Mokhade embraced caution, hardly perturbed by the slow goings. He knew once he saw them off and the pitch settled in, runs were there for the taking. Things became easier for Vidarbha when first-change pacer Vyshak Vijaykumar was replaced by Manvath Kumar as a concussion substitute after bowling just four overs. Vyshak was hit on the head in the final over of Karnataka’s innings.

Brick by brick, Mokhade built his innings. The early circumspection gave way to a flurry of boundaries midway, the momentum never dipping for once as he and Samarth knocked the stuffing out of Karnataka bowlers who looked flat and bereft of ideas during the carnage that unfolded.

Karnataka, despite a promising campaign, have only themselves to blame for fluffing the lines in the semis. Vidarbha’s opening pacers, Yash Thakur and Nachiket Bhule, bowled tight lines to keep Karnataka’s in-form opening pair of Mayank Agarwal and Devdutt Padikkal on a tight leash. And both Thakur and Bhule got rewards for their efforts, with the latter trapping Agarwal leg-before wicket in the fourth over and the former having Padikkal caught in the seventh over.

It was the first time in nine matches both the Karnataka openers were dismissed cheaply together, and the middle-order, which has not been in the best of touch, had their task cut out, especially with Thakur and Bhule breathing fire. But vice-captain Karun Nair (76, 90b, 8x4, 1x6), who found his touch in the quarterfinal defeat of Mumbai, was up for the challenge, first steadying the ship with a 54-run stand for the third wicket with Dhruv Prabhakar (28) and bolstering Karnataka’s innings with a 113-run fourth-wicket partnership in the company of under-fire wicketkeeper KL Shrijith (54, 53b, 7x4).

Both Nair and Shrijith were watchful at the start but began to grow in confidence as their innings wore on. They attacked the spin duo Harsh Dubey and Yash Kadam as the run-rate kicked up significantly from the 27th over onwards. But Darshan Nalkande, the standout bowler with a 5/48 show, halted the surge by dismissing Nair in the 34th over. Very next over, Shrijith departed and Karnataka were in trouble again at 193/5. The lower-order offered a fight to take Karnataka to a competitive total, which wasn’t enough in the end.

Brief scores:

Karnataka: 280 all out in 49.4 overs (Karun Nair 76, Dhruv Prabhakar 28, KL Shrijith 54, Shreyas Gopal 36, Abhinav Manohar 26; Yash Thakur 2-64, Darshan Nalkande 5-48) lt to Vidarbha: 284/4 in 46.2 overs (Aman Mokhade 138, Dhruv Shorey 47, R Samarth 76 n.o.; Abhilash Shetty 3-48) by 6 wkts.

PoM: Aman Mokhade.