The Rajasthan cricket team’s campaign in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 ended in the quarter-finals with a nine-wicket loss to Vidarbha at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara on Sunday.
Rajasthan posted a competitive 291/8, thanks to solid half-centuries from Kartik Sharma (62 off 61) and Shubham Garhwal (59 off 59).
However, powered by unbeaten centuries from Dhruv Shorey (118* off 131) and Karun Nair (122* off 82), the Vidarbha cricket team comfortably chased down the target in 43.3 overs.
Put into bat first by Vidarbha, Rajasthan were in a spot of bother with 19/2 after eight overs. Skipper Mahipal Lomror (32 off 45) and Deepak Hooda (45 off 49) provided the innings with some stability before Shubham Garhwal and Kartik Sharma helped take the scoring rate past five runs per over.
Kartik Sharma lost his wicket in the 47th over with scores at 245-6. A superb cameo by Deepak Chahar of 31 runs off 14 balls took Rajasthan past 290. Yash Thakur, with figures of 4/39, was the pick of the bowlers for Vidarbha.
In reply, Vidarbha got off to a solid start with a 92-run opening stand between Shorey and Yash Rathod. Kukna Ajay Singh provided the only breakthrough for Rajasthan, dismissing Rathod in the 19th over. However, the 200-run unbroken stand between Dhruv Shorey and Karun Nair made light work of the chase.
Rajasthan had shown promise earlier in the tournament, finishing third in Group B with five wins from seven matches. They edged past Tamil Nadu by 19 runs in the pre-quarterfinals to reach the last eight.
At the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25, Kartik Sharma emerged as Rajasthan’s standout performer with the bat, scoring 445 runs in eight innings, while Aniket Choudhary led the bowling charts for Rajasthan with 14 wickets from seven games.
Rajasthan vs Vidarbha, Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25, brief scores: RAJ 291/8 in 50 overs (Kartik Sharma 62; Yash Thakur 4/39) lost to VID 292/1 in 43.3 overs (Karun Nair 122*, Dhruv Shorey 118*; Kukna Ajay Singh 1/40) by nine wickets.
