NEW DELHI: Last season’s runners-up Vidarbha delivered a composed all-round performance to defeat Delhi by 76 runs and book their place in a second consecutive semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Tuesday.

Vidarbha will now face Karnataka in a repeat of last season’s final on Thursday, while Saurashtra are set to take on Punjab in the second semi-final on Friday.

Put in to bat at the Center of Excellence 2, Vidarbha steadied themselves well after an early wobble to post a competitive 300 for nine. Yash Rathod rediscovered his touch with a top score of 86, while opener Atharva Taide chipped in with 62, registering his second successive half-century.

In response, Delhi, who were without Ayush Badoni due to national duty and the injured Rishabh Pant, were bowled out for 224 in 45.1 overs.

Vidarbha bowlers apply the squeeze

Seamer Nachiket Bhute led the charge with an impressive 4/51 from 7.1 overs, first dismantling the top order before returning later to dismiss Ishant Sharma and Navdeep Saini in successive overs to shut the door on the chase.

Left-arm spinner and skipper Harsh Dubey was equally effective, finishing with 3/36 from nine overs, while new-ball bowler Praful Hinge provided solid support with 2/54.

Wicketkeeper-batter Anuj Rawat fought a lone battle for Delhi with a patient 66 off 98 balls, but it proved insufficient as their campaign came to an end in the quarter-finals.

Coming in at no. 6, Rawat tried to steady the innings after the top and middle order collapsed, adding useful partnerships with Mayank Gusain (18), Harsh Tyagi (27) and Hrithik Shokeen (21).

However, wickets continued to fall at regular intervals and the required rate kept rising.

With Delhi needing 98 off 64 balls and only four wickets in hand, Rawat was forced to attack but mistimed an inside-out shot off Hinge and was dismissed. His knock featured seven boundaries.

Shokeen fell in the same over, leaving Delhi at 215/8 and effectively ending the contest.

Strong batting base sets up victory

Earlier, Delhi had begun the chase brightly through Priyansh Arya, but Bhute soon swung the momentum Vidarbha’s way.

Arya struck four fours and a six in a quick 28 off 17 balls before edging a pull shot to wicketkeeper Rohit Binkar.

Off the very next delivery, Nitish Rana departed for a golden duck, his upper cut finding the fielder at third man as Bhute struck twice in the eighth over to leave Delhi at 58/2 in 7.5 overs.

Dubey then cut through the middle order, removing Vaibhav Kandpal (28) and Tejasvi Dahiya (15), before coming back to dismiss Gusain and reduce Delhi to 123/5 inside 27 overs.

Tyagi briefly injected some momentum with two fours and a six in his 27 off 29 balls, adding 46 with Rawat, before being dismissed by Yash Kadam.

Earlier in the day, Vidarbha had recovered well after losing opener Aman Mokhade (6) early, with Taide (62 off 72 balls, 8×4) and Dhruv Shorey (49 off 71 balls, 7×4) adding 90 for the second wicket.

Taide was bowled by Delhi skipper Ishant Sharma in the 25th over, a dismissal that also brought up the veteran pacer’s 200th List A wicket.

After the departures of Taide and Samarth, Rathod anchored the innings with a fluent run-a-ball fifty, keeping Vidarbha on track for a big total.

He struck eight fours and two sixes, while late cameos from Rohit Binkar (15 off nine balls, 2×6) and Dubey (10 off seven balls) pushed Vidarbha to the 300-run mark.

For Delhi, Ishant Sharma, Navdeep Saini and Prince Yadav claimed two wickets apiece.

(With PTI Inputs)