Nagpur, June 13 (IANS) Bharat Rangers chased down 200 runs to beat Nagpur Titans by 5 wickets and set up a semifinal clash with NECO Master Blaster in the Vidarbha Pro T20 League (VPTL) 2025 played at the VCA Stadium, Jamtha, near here on Thursday.

The second semifinals will be played between table-toppers Pagariya Strikers and Orange Tigers followed by Bharat Rangers and NECO Master Blaster later in the day.

Bharat Rangers were set a massive total, but the heroics of Danish Malewar to score a mammoth 120 in just 55 balls took them over the line. The target looked enormous at one stage when the Bharat Rangers were just 109/4 after losing consecutive wickets, but Malewar stood steady on one side of the batting crease while his teammates helped score steady runs.

It was fireworks from his bat as he accelerated, and the last 42 runs for the team came in just 14 balls to take home the victory. This put Bharat Rangers in the 2nd spot of the points table at the end of the league stage, overtaking NECO Master Blaster by just 2 points.

For the Nagpur Titans, Jagjot Sasan and Shubham Dubey respectively scored 67 and 72 runs, but it was not enough as the bowlers had no answers for Danish Malewar and company. They managed to pick up consistent wickets but could not stop the flow of runs, which resulted in them finishing 3rd place in the points table after the league stage of the Vidarbha Pro T20 League.

All 4 teams had already qualified before today’s games and were just waiting for their final placing on the points table to know who they would be coming up against in the semifinals. Unbeaten Pagariya Strikers will take on Orange Tigers, who will hope to forget their opening match and compete for a spot in the finals. Bharat Rangers will look to repeat their performance against the NECO Master Blaster in the second semifinals to claim a spot in the finals, which will be played on the 15th of June 2025.

Pagariya Strikers will play Orange Tigers in the second semifinal clash at the VCA Stadium, Jamtha

–IANS

bsk/