NAGPUR: The way Danish Malewar (92; 118b, 12x4, 1x6) and Neel Athaley (65; 109b, 8x4) batted on Sunday, Tamil Nadu realized that if they play any longer, they will bat them out of the Cooch Behar Trophy final. Vidarbha batters have come into this game by doing the same in the semifinal. They were in a mood to repeat the pattern. However, they got out, but not before putting Vidarbha in a decent position on Day-2 of the 4-day match at Jamtha stadium.
In reply to Tamil Nadu's 274, Vidarbha were 225 for 5 at stumps. Vidarbha are 49 runs away from taking the much-needed lead with the last recognized pair of Mohd Faiz (37 n.o off 115b) and Dharmendra Thakur (5 n.o off 17b) at the crease.
Both opener Neel and No. 4 Danish took charge after two wickets had fallen for 45. They added 85 fluent runs between them for the third wicket. If there was similarity in their approach in treating every run scoring opportunity with severe intensity, their style of getting out was also similar. They both got out by offering a shot on balls that were pitched way outside off.
Neel played the ball on to his stumps while trying to hit a cover drive off a wayward delivery from pacer C Achyuth. Similarly, Danish attempted a sweep shot on a ball pitched wide outside off and was given leg before wicket.
During this knock, Danish took his tournament tally to 1,112 and became the highest run-getter in Vidarbha's U-19 history. He surpassed Yash Rathod, who had scored 1,089 runs in the 2018-19 edition. Danish is slated to finish this season as the highest run-scorer of the tournament. He has 4 centuries and 2 half-centuries to his name so far.
Danish was involved in yet another important 63-run partnership with skipper Faiz before getting out. Southpaw Faiz was patient initially. He took 50 balls for his first 10 runs. Then he swept Vignesh for two boundaries in the 55th over and started rotating strike at will after that.
Earlier in the morning, Tamil Nadu's last pair of No. 9 Akash Devkumar (41 off 94b) and No. 11 G Govinth (12 n.o. off 72b) frustrated Vidarbha bowlers with their 47-run partnership. They played 13.3 overs in the morning and added 35 runs to their overnight score.
Brief scores:
Tamil Nadu (Overnight 239-9) 274 all out in 103.3 overs (Andre Siddarth 57, AB Dhiyash 44, Akash Devkumar 41; Pratham Maheshwari 3-59, Rajsingh Chavhan 2-54, Gaurav Farde 2-58) vs Vidarbha 225 for 5 in 74 overs (Danish Malewar 92, Neel Athaley 65, Mohd Faiz 37 n.o; P Vignesh 2-66).
