Vidarbha team is going from bad to worse. Nothing seems to have been working for the two-time former Ranji Trophy champions as they crashed to yet another humiliating defeat in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 Trophy cricket tournament at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday.
In the fourth league outing of the Elite Group D, Services handed over big eight-wicket defeat to Vidarbha to notch up their first win of the competition.
Chasing a competitive target of 151, Services romped home with eight wickets and 16 balls in hand as they raced to 153 for the loss of just a couple of wickets in 17.2 overs.
Openers Lakhan Singh (66: 49b, 8×4, 1×6) and Navneet Singh (20: 26b, 1×4) provided a flying start to Services with a solid partnership of 74 runs for the first wicket in only ten overs.
Rahul Singh then ensured Services reached the destination with utmost comfort with a spectacular unbeaten 55 off just 25 balls. The No. 3 batsman hammered 5 boundaries and three sixes to shatter the hopes of Vidarhba.
Aditya Thakare and Akshay Wakhare took a wicket each but rest of the bowlers found wanting against the rampaging Services batsmen.
Earlier, former India Under-19 cricketer Yash Rathod made his senior Vidarbha debut and created an immediate impact with a polished 36 to guide his team to a decent-looking total of 150 for 7.
Yash Rathod impressed with his stroke-filled 36 off just 31 balls which included four boundaries and a towering six to justify his inclusion.
After losing earlier three league ties, Vidarbha team was only playing for pride now and to avoid the bottom place.
In-form Siddhesh Wath continued his fine form to slam 29 while opening the batting. His 31-ball 29 was studded with five fours.
All-rounder Apoorv Wankhade (26), Mohit Raut (20), Jitesh Sharma (12) and Akshay Wadkar (10) were the other notable contributors.
Stand-in skipper Akshay Wakhare won the second toss in succession and opted to bat first.
For Services, Varun Choudhary (3-30) and Nitin Yadav (2-29) bowled well.
Vidarbha 150 for 7 in 20 overs (Yash Rathod 36, Siddhesh Wath 29, Apoorv Wankhade 26, Mohit Raut 20, Jitesh Sharma 12, Akshay Wadkar 10; Varun Choudhary 3-30, Nitin Yadav 2-29, Nitin Tanwar 1-21, Vikas Yadav 1-26) lost to Services 153 for 2 in 17.2 overs (Lakhan Singh 66, Rahul Singh 55 not out, Navneet Singh 20, Rajat Paliwal 6 not out; Akshay Wakhare 1-28, Aditya Thakare 1-32) by 8 wickets.
