Yash Rathod rekindles Centre of Excellence love affair

Bengaluru: After a match-winning 194 in the Duleep Trophy final and a 71 in the Ranji Trophy opener against Nagaland, Yash Rathod’s love affair with the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence continued on Tuesday. 

The 25-year-old (86, 73, 8x4, 2x6) enhanced his white-ball reputation with a Player of the Match performance while Atharva Taide (62, 72, 8x4) scored his third fifty in four innings to help Vidarbha set up a Vijay Hazare Trophy semifinal with Karnataka after comfortably beating Delhi by 76 runs. 

Chasing 301 without two of their skippers - Rishabh Pant (national duty/ injury) and Ayush Badoni (national duty) - Delhi were bowled out for 224 in 45.1 overs. 

They began the chase in earnest with Priyansh Arya (28, 19b, 4x4, 1x6) dealing in boundaries while Vaibhav Kandpal (28, 42b, 3x4) took a more cautious approach as Vidarbha struggled to control proceedings.

Nachiket Bhute (4/51) drew first blood as Arya poked at a ball going down the leg side. The strike turned into a double whammy when Nitish Rana (0) tried to guide a short ball to third man but hit it straight down R Samarth’s throat. 

The introduction of spin in the form of Harsh Dubey (3/36) rattled Delhi further as they lost Kandpal and Tejasvi (15).  

Anuj Rawat (66, 98, 7x4) showcased some fight but it was never going to be enough with him running out of partners at the other end. 

Earlier, unperturbed by the seam movement Ishant Sharma (2/47) and Navdeep Saini (2/68) were generating, Taide went after Saini to set the tone.

However, Saini returned to dismiss Aman Mokhade (6, 12b), to give some relief to the Delhi dugout.

Taide hit as many as six boundaries on the off-side, cutting anything slightly wide, galloping to his ninth List A fifty in 56 balls. 

Dhruv Shorey (49, 71b, 7x4), who equalled the record for most consecutive (five) List A tons in history in December last year, looked switched on, using his cut and drives to optimum effect. 

Both batters looked at absolute ease once the ball stopped seaming around, stitching a 90-run stand. Just when Taide looked good for a big one, he was cleaned up by Ishant, who picked up his 200th wicket in List A cricket. 

With Vidarbha 203/4 in 39 overs, Rathod was the fulcrum of their batting, as the last 11 overs yielded 97 runs. 

Dominant Punjab 

A collective effort with both bat and ball helped Punjab surge into the semifinals with a 183-run victory over Madhya Pradesh at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence 1. 

Fifties from Prabhsimran Singh (88), Harnoor Singh (51), Anmolpreet Singh (70) and Nehal Wadhera (56) helped Punjab post a competitive 345/6 in 50 overs. 

In response, MP were never really in the chase as Sanvir Singh (3/31), Gurnoor Brar (2/27), Krish Bhagat (2/28) and Ramandeep Singh (2/23) rolled them over for 162 in 31.2 overs. 

Brief scores:

Vidarbha: 300/9 in 50 overs (Atharva Taide 62, Dhruv Shorey 49, Yash Rathod 86; Ishant Sharma 2-47, Navdeep Saini 2-68, Prince Yadav 2-59, Nitish Rana 2-19) bt Delhi: 224 all out in 45.1 overs (Vaibhav Kandpal 28, Priyansh Arya 28, Anuj Rawat 66, Harsh Tyagi 27; Praful Hinge 2-54, Nachiket Bhute 4-51, Harsh Dubey 3-36) by 76 runs.

Punjab: 345/6 in 50 overs (Harnoor Singh 51, Prabhsimran Singh 88, Anmolpreet Singh 70, Nehal Wadhera 56; Tripuresh Singh 2-51, Venkatesh Iyer 2-60) bt Madhya Pradesh: 162 all out in 31.2 overs (Rajat Patidar 38, Tripuresh Singh 31; Gurnoor Brar 2-27, Krish Bhagat 2-28, Sanvir Singh 3-31, Ramandeep Singh 2-23) by 183 runs.