NAGPUR: Vidarbha's campaign in the Vijay Hazare Trophy has got off to a dominating start. They have literally outplayed their rivals in both the matches. The key men in all the three departments have thrown their hats in the ring and put the Faiz Fazal-led side on the top of the table.
After unraveling their 'A' game, they have a test to go through against Odisha on Saturday. Like Vidarbha, Odisha are also in identical form with equal wins. Both the outfits are strong contenders of top-two finish in the Elite Group-A.
From Vidarbha's perspective, this game is vital as it would keep them at the top of the table. Though the top-two teams from the group go into the knockouts, the table topper plays the quarterfinals directly, while the second finisher has to play the prequarterfinals.
Vidarbha have missed the knockouts stage many a time by a whisker in the earlier editions. They would not want to be in a similar situation this time too. To ensure that they play quarters, they will look to fire on all cylinders like they did in the first two matches.
Vidarbha will play Odisha at the Dadoji Konddev Stadium in Thane where pacer Yash Thakur reigned supreme with a fifer in the opener. His effort was complemented by young guns like Yash Rathod and Atharva Taide. In the same match, senior left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate conceded just 19 runs in 10 overs.
Vidarbha were even more commanding in the second encounter with Taide leading from the front and Ganesh Satish and Rathod chipping in. Faiz would hope for a similar show from his men.
