Vidarbha crush Manipur by 167 runs, secure second biggest win

Vidarbha on Monday registered the second biggest margin victory in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament with a 167-run thumping of Manipur in their Plate group match here.

Defending an imposing 223, Vidarbha shot out Manipur for 55 in 16.3 overs to secure the victory that gave a huge boost to their net run-rate (+4.537).

Vidarbha lead the Plate Group with 16 points, four more than Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya with three matches left.

Andhra hold the T20 record for the largest margin of victory, a 179-run win over Nagaland in the 2019 edition of the meet.

Atharva Taide (21-ball 46; 7x4, 2x6) gave Vidarbha a flying start even as they lost two wickets inside the Powerplay after opting to bat.

But it was the duo of Jitesh Sharma and Apoorv Wankhade who displayed some sensational power-hitting in the final six overs -- 105 runs from 35 balls -- in an unbroken fifth wicket partnership to prop the total to 222/4.

Sharma smashed five sixes and five fours in a 31-ball 71 not out, while Wankhade was even better, hammering six sixes and one boundary in his unbeaten 49 from 16 balls.

After the batters' onslaught, it was time for Vidarbha bowlers to join the party with the left-arm spin duo of Akshay Karnewar and Atharva Taide grabbing two wickets apiece without conceding a single run.

Karnewar bowled all his four overs maiden, while Taide also did not concede any run from his one over and also claimed two wickets.

Only two Manipur batters -- Karnajit Yumnam (18) and captain Narsingh Yadav (10) -- got to double digits.

Brief Scores: Vidarbha 222 for 4 in 20 overs (Jitesh Sharma 71 not out, Apoorv Wankhade 49 not out, Atharva Taide 46) beat Manipur 55 all out in 16.3 overs (Akshay Karnewar 2/0, Taide 2/0, Aditya Thakare 2/17) by 167 runs.

Tripura 146 all out in 20 overs (KB Pawan 33; Chirag Khurana 3/21, Akash Choudhary 2/24) lost to Meghalaya 147 for no loss (Kishan Lyngdoh 85 not out, Chirag Khurana 54 not out) by 10 wickets.

Mizoram 109 for 5 in 20 overs (Uday Kaul 69) lost to Sikkim 112 for no loss in 17.4 overs (Codanda Ajit Karthik 61 not out, Liyan Khan 48 not out) by 10 wickets.

Nagaland 165 for 7 in 20 overs (Joshua Ozukum 91; Techi Doria 3/33) beat Arunachal Pradesh 86 all out in 15 overs (Imliwati Lemur 4/20) by 79 runs.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)