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Yash Rathod's century was a major highlight as Vidarbha beat Madhya Pradesh by 62 runs in Nagpur on Wednesday to secure a shot at their third Ranji Trophy title, booking a title clash with 41-time champions Mumbai.
Vidarbha and Mumbai will take on the finals of Ranji Trophy at Wankhede Stadium from January 10. Vidarbha elected to bat first after winning the toss. Despite a half-century from Karun Nair (63 in 105 balls with nine fours) and a knock by Atharva Taide (39 in 63 balls, with eight fours), they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were bundled out for 170 in 56.4 overs. Avesh Khan (4/49), Kulwant Khejroliya (2/38) and Venkatesh Iyer (2/28) were the top bowlers for MP. Madhya Pradesh secured a first-innings lead. MP was 93/4 at one point, but Himanshu Mantri smashed 126 in 265 balls, with 13 fours and a six and formed some important partnerships with Saransh Jain (30 in 76 balls, with a four and six) and Sagar Solanki (26 in 57 balls, with three fours). MP was bundled out for 252 runs, but they had a lead of 82 runs in their pocket. Umesh Yadav (3/40) and Yash Thakur (3/51) were among the top-wicket takers for Vidarbha. Akshay Wakhare also took two wickets. Vidarbha took a gigantic leap in the match during their second innings. They were once struggling at 161/5 despite a half-century from Aman Mokhade (59 in 100 balls with seven fours). But then, Yash Rathod combined with skipper Akshay Wadkar to take his team beyond the 300-run mark. Their 158-run partnership ended with Wadkar's dismissal for 77 in 139 balls, with eight fours. Rathod went on to complete a remarkable century and was the last man to fall for 141 in 200 balls, with 18 fours and two sixes. Vidarbha was all out for 402 runs and had a 320-run lead. This gave MP a 321-run target to win. Anubhav Agarwal (5/92) was the pick of the bowlers for MP. Kulwant and Kumar Kartikeya also took two wickets. Chasing 321, MP lost Mantri early but then followed a century stand between Yash Dubey and Harsh Gawli (67 in 80 balls, with 11 fours). Following Gawli's dismissal, MP started to lose wickets more frequently and the match was evenly poised with Yash being sixth down for 94 in 212 balls, with 10 fours. MP needed 96 runs and Vidarbha needed four wickets. But the latter came out on top, bundling out MP for 258 in 81.3 overs. Akshay Wakhare (3/42) and Yash Thakur (3/60) were the pick of the bowlers for Vidarbha. Aditya Sarwate and Aditya Thakare also took two wickets. Rathod was given the 'Player of the Match' award for his century. (ANI)
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