Nagpur, June 16 (IANS) NECO Master Blaster defeated Pagariya Strikers by seven wickets and 13 balls to spare to clinch the Vidarbha Pro T20 League trophy at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium.

Pagariya Strikers had an undefeated run till the finals but NECO Master Blaster had an extremely good day on the field with both bat and ball. This was the only team they had lost to earlier in the league. Shanmesh Deshmukh was awarded the player of the match for his quickfire 82 runs in 45 balls even though he ended the match on the wrong side.

With a target of 179 on the board, Vedant Dighade and Adhyan Daga opened the innings for NECO Master Blaster. They added 35 runs for the first wicket before Daga was dismissed for 22 in 16 balls. Then Aryam Meshram joined Dighade in the middle. The duo put on a partnership of 90 runs for the second wicket before Meshram was dismissed for 42 in 26 balls.

Dighade remained unbeaten till the end, and he scored unbeaten 80 in 52 balls. He was brilliantly assisted by Jitesh Sharma who played a unbeaten knock of 30 not out in 11 balls. They chased down the target in 17.5 overs.

The first innings saw Dhruv Shorey and MD Faiz open the innings for Pagariya Strikers. They were down to 27/3 in 3.3 overs. MD Faiz made 19 in 12 balls. Shorey could only manage to add 6 in 5 balls.

Shivam Deshmukh held the innings from one end and scored 82 in 45 balls. He was well assisted by Pushpak Gujar, Yash Kadam and Vishesh Tiwari in the middle. While Gujar scored 25 in 26 balls, Kadam added 16 in 12 balls and Vishesh Tiwari remained unbeaten on 23* in 15 balls. They posted a score of 178/7 in 20 overs.

Aryan Meshram was the highest scorer of the tournament with 358 runs and consistent innings across the entire league also contributing to the most 6s. Lalit Yadav was the highest wicket taker of the league as well as the best figures in a match with his 5-fer for just 11 runs. The highest score was posted by Danish Malewar, who scored 120 for the Bharat Rangers against Nagpur Titans.

Earlier in the day, the Orange Tiggreses defeated the Nagpur Titans by 16 runs to lift the Vidarbha Pro T20 League trophy in the women’s draw.

–IANS

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