Vidarbha vs Railways, SMAT, Today Match Prediction 01 December 2024

VDB vs RWS Match Prediction & Analysis

We are coming towards the end of the group phase of this year's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and as a result all games are crucial as teams fight for the top two places and an automatic place in the knockout phase!

This game between Vidarbha and Railways is one of the same even though the former come into the fixture with an eight point cushion over the latter. However, Railways still have three games left to play which means they could four wins in the group which should be enough to progress through to the next stage.

But in truth, Railways have looked less of a team than Vidarbha so far in the tournament. Vidarbha are still in the running for finishing top of the group and they will take some stopping on Sunday during this day-night affair.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Vidarbha Preview

Not only did Vidarbha record a convincing 8 wicket win over Assam in their last game on Friday, but they also completed the victory in double quick time, winning with 36 balls remaining!

As a result, there will be a really high feel-good factor in the squad ahead of this game, particularly as all five of their bowlers picked up at least one wicket on Friday. In this clash, we expect the threatening pair of Darshan Nalkande and Harsh Dubey to once again take the new ball.

Some teams in this year's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy have plenty of batting depth and Vidarbha are one of those with opener Karun Nair arriving off the back of hitting 75 runs from 47 balls in the last game!

Vidarbha Predicted Playing XI:

Atharva Taide, Karun Nair, Mandar Mahale, Jitesh Sharma (c) (wk), Shubham Dubey, Apoorv Wankhade, Harsh Dubey, Parth Rekhade, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Thakur, Dipesh Parwani

Railways Preview

Railways suffered their second loss of the campaign in their last fixture on Wednesday but it could have been different as the game was only decided with 1 ball remaining in Visakhapatnam!

Although after a poor start, Railways would certainly have taken the deal of seeing the game go to the penultimate ball of the match after they fell to 7/3 with only 2.1 overs bowled. Getting off to a stronger start at the top of the order will be a real priority for Upendra Yadav's side in this game.

That said, captain Yadav and Ashutosh Sharma both finished unbeaten and showed there are plenty of lower-order runs in the side, taking them from 39/5 to 159/5!

With the ball, Karn Sharma is a real threat and Rahul Sharma will keep the economy rate down.

Railways Predicted Playing XI:

Samarth Vyas, Vivek Singh, Pratham Singh, Shivam Chaudhary, Suraj Ahuja, Upendra Yadav (c) (wk), Ashutosh Sharma, Rahul Sharma, Karn Sharma, Kunal Yadav, Akash Pandey

Weather Conditions

The weather forecast is not overly encouraging in Visakhapatnam with cloudy conditions expected across the day. There could also be some rain earlier in the day as well.

VDB vs RWS Pitch Report

This has always been a good batting wicket and typically delivers more runs as the game progresses under light. For the team who bats first, they will be looking to post at least 185 to remain competitive.

Toss: To Bowl

The pitch is likely to offer the same for both teams during this game but batting under lights could be a slightly proposition in the second half of the game. We expect more pace in the pitch under lights so predict both teams will want to bowl first.