Vidarbha claim five points in draw against Rajasthan

The Central Zone Under-22 clash between Rajasthan and Vidarbha at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground in Nagpur limped to a draw on Christmas, the third and final day of the match. By virtue of having secured the first innings lead, Vidarbha claimed five points to Rajasthan's three.

On the opening day (Saturday), Vidarbha captain AS Naidu won the toss and put the visitors in to bat. For Rajasthan, National Cricket Academy ward Nikhil Doru and captain AS Jain posted a fifty run partnership for the first wicket before the skipper fell. The best partnership however, was 146 for the fourth wicket, between Siddharth Joshi and S Bhatia. While Bhatia helped himself to a 106-ball 71 including 10 boundaries, it was Joshi who proved to be a thorn in Vidarbha's flesh. He went on to notch up a fine 126 (216 balls, 17 fours, 1 six) and propelled Rajasthan to 380 all out.

In response, Vidarbha managed to play out the remaining time and take the first innings lead. Amit Deshpande with a patient 92 (181 balls, 12 boundaries) led the Vidarbha effort. Useful contributions from Rahul Jadhav (58) and Harshal Shitoot (78) saw Vidarbha make 397 off 134.4 overs before being all out. With 1.4 mandatory overs being completed on the final day when the last Vidarbha wicket fell, play was called off.