Nair and Shorey take Vidarbha to dominant victory over Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-finals.

Vidarbha have entered the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy after a comprehensive nine-wicket victory over Rajasthan in the quarterfinals in the last stages of which, unbeaten centuries by Karun Nair, the captain and Dhruv Shorey completely dominated the match.

From Rajastan's 292 target, Vidarbha just took 43.3 overs to complete the challenge, thereby sealing themselves a semi-final berth against Maharashtra at Vadodara on 16 January.

Karun Nair unstoppable form

Karun Nair, who has been in exceptional form throughout the season, once again showed his class with an unbeaten 122, his fourth consecutive century. This remarkable achievement further solidified his position at the top of the tournament's run chart, with a total of 664 runs so far. Notably, Nair has faced the dismissals only once in six innings with an excellent average of 664. His bat-to-ball play has been a tremendous boon for Vidarbha and so was the aggressive yet controlled knock against Rajasthan. Nair scored 122 off just 82 balls which also included 13 boundaries and five sixes in the way his team sailed through to a comprehensive win.

Shorey's Important Contribution

With Dhruv Shorey joining him in the crease, a master supporting act of Shorey - with an unbeaten 118 runs off 131 balls helped successfully chase it off. He first helped stabilize Vidarbha at the onset through a 92-run opening stand with Yash Rathod, and with his departure, he then came good with Nair for the second wicket and put the opponents in absolute command. Shorey’s innings included ten fours and three sixes, showcasing his solid stroke play and his ability to anchor the chase. His partnership with Nair proved to be unbreakable, ensuring the team's progress to the semi-finals with ease.

Rajasthan’s Struggle with the Bat

Earlier on, Rajasthan's batting was threatened by a slow start, and they faced early setbacks on being put to bat. The innings was off to a poor start with the opening batsman Abhijeet Tomar getting bowled out cheaply by Nachiket Bhute in the seventh over. In the following over, Rajasthan lost their second opener, Manav Suthar, bowled by Yash Thakur. 

Mahipal Lomror and Deepak Hooda tried to stabilize the innings with a 71-run partnership, but both were dismissed in quick succession, leaving Rajasthan at 106 for 4. Shubham Garhwal and Kartik Sharma added 82 runs for the fifth wicket, which seemed to give some momentum, but Thakur struck again, dismissing Garhwal for a well-played 59. Rajasthan's hopes further dimmed when Kartik Sharma and wicketkeeper Samarpit Joshi were dismissed in consecutive overs. But, with Deepak Chahar scoring 31 off just 14 balls towards the end, Rajasthan's 291 for 8 looked somewhat short in terms of what their batting line-up could offer, especially considering Vidarbha's batting line-up.

Bowling by Thakur

The one aspect where Yash Thakur did really well was bowling. He bowled quite well at the end with an excellent return of 4 wickets for 39 runs and really set up the middle-order batting of Rajasthan. He prevented the total going overboard during the middle overs by his crucial spell of bowling, especially when Vidarbha seemed to have dominated throughout the match and when Rajasthan began building some crucial partnerships.

Looking Ahead

As Vidarbha moves into the semi-finals, the team will have high confidence from the performances by Nair and Shorey. Their dominant chase against Rajasthan with Thakur's excellent bowling will set a stage for a thrilling clash against Maharashtra in the semi-final, which promises to be a match that will fight for a spot in the final. Vidarbha, with a balanced team and in-form players, will look to carry forward their momentum and continue their pursuit of the Vijay Hazare Trophy title.