Maharashtra U-19s on verge of SF spot

Pune: Maharashtra all but sealed their semifinal spot after reducing Vidarbha to 341 for seven on the third and penultimate day of the Cooch Behar Trophy (Under-19) cricket quarterfinal at the 22

Yards Salt Lake

ground in Kolkata on Wednesday.Left-arm spinner Abhishek Nishad took four for 100 as Maharashtra struck at regular intervals to chip away at Vidarbha’s batting. In the morning, resuming at 598/9, Maharashtra’s innings lasted one over before they were dismissed for 602. They need three wickets to take the first-innings lead and book their last-four berth.Vidarbha trail by 261 runs. The follow-on mark is 452.Opener Neel Athaley played the anchor role with a patient 126 (192b, 15x4) for Vidarbha. His partnerships with Abhishek Agrawal (24), Danish Malewar (44) and

Mohammad Faiz

(38) were all nipped before they could blossom with Nishad dismissing all the associates.Jaglot (61, 67b, 5x4, 3x6) combined with Athaley to produce a more serious threat to Maharashtra as they put on 106 runs for the fifth wicket in just over 19 overs. But

Rohit Chaudhari

gave the vital breakthrough by dismissing Jaglot before Athaley was run out 20 runs later.Brief scores: Maharashtra U-19s 1st inngs 602 in 182 overs vs Vidarbha U-19s 1st inngs 341/7 in 86(Neel Athlaey 126, Danish Malewar 44, Md Faiz 38, Jaglot 61; Abhishek Nishad 4-100). Maha ahead by 261 runs.
Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.