NAGPUR: Apoorv Wankhade's liking for a difficult role of stabilizer-cum-finisher needs no introduction. Owing to his six-hitting prowess, he was given the Vidarbha T20 cap way back in 2011 when he was just 18. Apoorv was among the runs, but he found the breakthrough only during the 2016 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He had showcased huge sixes, impressed IPL talent scouts, and won matches for Vidarbha including a famous win over Hyderabad at VCA Jamtha.
Apoorv, now 30, is showing similar form in this edition of the T20 tournament. On Saturday, when Vidarbha were in a must-win situation, the right-hander played his role perfectly, scored second T20 fifty (71 n.o off 42b) including five huge sixes and as many fours to take Vidarbha to a 6-wicket win over Railways with 10 balls to spare in Rajkot.
With this result, Vidarbha have qualified for the knockouts along with table topper Mumbai from Group 'A'.
Chasing 151, Vidarbha lost top-3 by the ninth over for 54 runs. No.4 Apoorv was in the middle in the fourth over itself. The Amravati-born cricketer showed tremendous maturity when the pressure was enormous. He played a fluent cover drive on arrival. He stabilized the sinking ship by keeping the scoreboard ticking till the 10th over.
Vidarbha needed 85 from the last 60 balls. Railways were tightening the screw through leggie Karn Sharma and Harsh Tyagi. Apoorv, who played to his reputation, did not try any ambitious shot on any spinner but started changing the pacers only after the 11th over.
The former Kolkata Knight Riders player made his intentions clear when he stepped out to a pacer and hit a pull shot into the stands over long-on in the 13th over. That over yielded 13 runs.
He had Shubham Dubey (38; 26b, 4x4, 1x6) in company. They changed the complexion of the match by garnering 47 runs from the next four overs to throw Railways out of the contest. They both were involved in a match-defining 88-run partnership from 52 balls that kept Vidarbha from striking difference.
To finish things up, Apoorv milked a six over long-off on a difficult ball delivered wide outside off and pitched near the batting crease.
"Apoorv showed a lot of character in this match. It was such a pleasure to see how he planned his innings in a T20 game. Look at this season, he is the most consistent batter this season and has gelled well with Jitesh Sharma's performance," said VCA official.
With this 71-run knock, Apoorv has become the highest run-getter for Vidarbha with 211 runs in 7 matches. He has hit 11 sixes, the most for his team, so far this season.
Earlier, Aditya Sarwate (2-0-8-2) and Yash Thakur (4-0-32-2) picked up wickets as crucial junctures to stall railmen from putting up a big total on the board. Umesh Yadav did well to concede just 6 runs in the last over of Railways innings.
BRIEF SCORES
Railways 150 for 5 in 20 overs (Shivam Chaudhary 84 n.o, Vivek Singh 26; Aditya Sarwate 2-8, Yash Thakur 2-32) lost to Vidarbha 153 for 4 in 18.2 overs (Apoorv Wankhade 71 n.o, Shubham Dubey 38; Yuvraj 2-27) by 6 wickets
