Baroda take Day One honours

By Paritosh Pramanik

NAGPUR, Nov 17, 2025

BARODA left-arm spinner Ninad Rathva claimed his career’s sixth five-wicket haul to help his side take Day One honours against Vidarbha in the Elite Group A Ranji Trophy match at Jamtha Stadium on Sunday.

Rathva’s fifer saw Vidarbha crumble for 169 in just 58 overs on their home turf. Barring Yash Rathod (42*), who fell short of partners and Aman Mokhade (37), none other Vidarbha batter could stay put in the middle.

At stumps, Baroda were 70 for two still trailing by 99 runs.

Vidarbha got the wicket of Shashwat Rawat on the penultimate delivery of the day when Nachiket Bhute bowled a bouncer which the batter tried to pull only to edge it to wicketkeeper Akshay Wadkar. Bhute gave Vidarbha breakthrough in the fifth over of their innings trapping opener Shivalik Sharma in front.

Jyotsnil Singh (27) and Shashwat Rawat (33) had added 59 runs for the second wicket. 

Singh, who got hit on his helmet in the morning and was taken to hospital for scans, batted well with Rawat as they frustrated Vidarbha bowlers.

Rawat was lucky to get three lives during his 118-minute stay in the middle. Early in the innings, Darshan Nalkande got Rawat’s furniture disturbed, when he was on 12, but the bowler overstepped for a no-ball. A few overs later, Mokhade dropped him at slips and then substitute Yash Kadam spilled another in the slip cordon when the batter was on 19.

Earlier, the visitors put up a dominant show as the home side lost their top four batters in the first session itself. They could not improve their performance any further in the afternoon session and were all out 20 minutes before scheduled tea break.

Rathva (47-5), playing his 17th First Class match, spun the web around Vidarbha batters to take a fifer. He mixed his deliveries well as he trapped four batters in front of the wicket after claiming the prized scalp of Mokhade caught by wicketkeeper Mitesh Patel.

Patel took five catches in the first innings, from which four came from pacers Atit Sheth (25-2) and Raj Limbani (27-2).

Baroda bowlers were all over Vidarbha and pushed them back to the wall.

The hosts were dealt with an early blow when an out-of-form opener Atharva Taide nicked back to wicketkeeper Patel in the sixth over of the day. Limbani maintained a beautiful line and forced Taide to play the shot only to see his bat kissing the ball.

Parth Rekhade (20), promoted up the order, did manage to consume a few deliveries (36 balls) and along with Aman Mokhade added 46 runs for the second wicket, the highest of Vidarbha’s innings. 

He tried to overpower Baroda bowlers with a couple of boundaries and a six off a pull shot but his entertaining innings too came to an end when captain Atit Sheth got him caught behind.

Ravikumar Samarth, playing his 100th First Class match, could not make much of an impact as he flashed an away going delivery back to keeper Patel off Limbani, giving the bowler his second wicket before lunch.

Mokhade tried to hold one end and was looking in great touch hitting a six and a couple of boundaries but Baroda spinner Rathva spun a delivery which bounced enough to find the batter’s edge and Patel once again gathered a beautiful catch behind the stumps.

Vidarbha professional Dhruv Shorey too tried to hold the fort hitting three crisp boundaries but his 68-ball stay in the middle was cut short by rival 

captain Sheth.

Rathod, last season’s highest run scorer of the tournament, was the only bright spot of the day for Vidarbha with a patient unbeaten 40 but was left stranded with wickets falling around him. 

The left-handed batter and Nalkande (20) put up 28 runs for the seventh wicket which took Vidarbha’s score past the 150-run mark.