VID vs MAHA

So that'll be all from this contest but we will bring the coverage of the grand finale as well on Saturday, January 18, right here on Sportskeeda. It's Karnataka versus Vidarbha - do ensure you join us for that on this very platform. For now, you can hop over here to follow our live coverage of the SA20 clash between Joburg Super Kings and Pretoria Capitals at The Wanderers. Until next time, this is the duo of Pradeep and Sooryanarayanan Sesha calling it a day. Good night and see you again!

He was left out of the Karnataka side a couple of seasons ago and was forced to make the switch to Vidarbha. And now, Karun Nair will lead Vidarbha against his former team in Karnataka on the final on Saturday. A penny for Karun's thoughts perhaps? Whatever it is, he has to gather them all together and ensure that he shows the way again for his side. He has been inspirational par excellence and if he can show up one more time against a strong Karnataka attack, he could put Vidarbha on their way for their maiden title. Oh that promises to be a riveting one alright!

Karun Nair [Vidarbha Captain]: (On the last ball) Yeah of course (the catch should have been taken), I was just telling Darshan (grins). It's a special unit. It's been an amazing journey. We have one more step to climb. Everyone's contributed in different areas in different times in different games. Everyone is happy for each other's success and looks forward to each game eagerly. We have one more game to go and that would be the icing on the cake. A lot of people standing up at different times - that's the hallmark of a great team to win a championship. Be it small contributions or big ones, it's really important. We've won all the games that we have. We need to go out there and win one more. It's just another game. It'll be a special day and we need to play our best cricket to win the game.

Yash Rathod is the Player of the Match! Here's what he has to say: It was fun batting. Wicket was good, it was a bit slower but it was coming on nicely. When we started, it was not coming off that well, it was keeping low, odd ball was taking off. We wanted to take time and see later on. We've been opening in the last four games and the co-ordination is good. 300 was on my mind, but anything over that was bonus.

Ruturaj Gaikwad [Maharashtra captain]: Throughout the first innings, we had an off day from the start. Credit to Vidarbha, they outplayed completely in the batting department. Little bit of fielding, no one does it intentionally. They batted really well, they cashed in on the bad deliveries, credit to them. 

21:33 IST: Vidarbha beat Maharashtra by 69 runs and advance to the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 to face Karnataka!

Yash Rathod 116 (101) | Darshan Nalkande 3/64 (10)
Arshin Kulkarni 90 (101) | Mukesh Choudhary 2/80 (9)

Ranji Trophy finalists last year and now, this Vidarbha team has progressed to the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy! Karun Nair led from the front again with a blistering unbeaten 88 after openers Dhruv Shorey and Yash Rathod's tons set things up and Jitesh Sharma blitzed a rapid fifty of his own to post a monstrous score on the board.

But it was then a chase that really never got going. 381 was always going to be a massive task and Maharashtra's woes were compounded the moment skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad scuffed a pull off Darshan Nalkande as Jitesh Sharma completed a brilliant diving catch. It brought Rahul Tripathi in at 3 for a change and the intention was clear from him - try and score as quickly as possible. The moment he nicked off for a breezy 26 though, the brakes were on for good.

Arshin Kulkarni and Siddhesh Veer forged a solid partnership but they just did not look to accelerate quickly enough. To be fair, the Vidarbha bowlers were right on the money with spinners Harsh Dubey and Parth Rekhade running through their overs quickly and pushing that rate up. So much so that Rekhade even bowled his ten out at a stretch. Yet, the intent to score quickly was just not to be seen and Maharashtra tread on the side of being over-conservative.

Kulkarni raised a fifty with Ankit Bawne raising his own fifty as he looked to put some pressure on Rekhade with his aerial sweeps. But the asking rate just kept soaring high and high beyond the chasing side's reach. The pitch didn't deteriorate either and it eventually got to a stage where Maharashtra needed 160 off the last ten overs. This was after Kulkarni was adjudged LBW for 90 and quite clearly, the result was beyond doubt.

Nalkande got progressively better as he finished with a three-wicket haul. Nachiket Bhute was excellent with his control himself and all in all, it was a fine day in the office for Vidarbha with Nikhil Naik's breezy 49 ending up as a case of too little, far too late for Maharashtra. Vidarbha have now booked a spot in the final against Karnataka in a couple of days' time at this very venue and that surely ought to be a cracker alright. Stick around for the presentation from this one...

Well what an anticlimax! Karun Nair almost has a wicket to his name but Nalkande decides against going for the catch. It does make sense since it avoids risking a needless injury when the game is done and dusted. Vidarbha qualify for their first ever final in the Vijay Hazare Trophy!

49.6 Karun Nair to Satyajeet Bachhav, OH DEAR! Nair almost finishes the over with a wicket. Vidarbha storm into the final with that! What a commanding win and well led by the skipper Karun Nair who takes his team to the finals and will be facing Karnataka in the finals on Saturday. Shimmies down the wicket, Bachhav looks to launch it out of the park but miscued it to long-off, fielder charges in but that lands safely.

49.5 Karun Nair to Satyajeet Bachhav, OH! On a length on fifth stump, Bachhav reaches to sweep, but ends up getting an inside edge back on to the pad.

49.3 Karun Nair to Satyajeet Bachhav, FOUR! That is another good shot from Bachhav. Short on the stumps, fired it in, went back and swatted it straight back past the bowler for a boundary.

49.2 Karun Nair to Mukesh Choudhary, on a length on the stumps, Mukesh has a wild hack across the line, hits the inside half of the bat to long-on for one more.