Takes 11 wickets in match; Vidarbha win by innings and 88 runs, earn bonus point to consolidate position at top
By Paritosh Pramanik
YOUNG left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey demolished Himachal Pradesh with his second five-wicket haul of the match as Vidarbha crushed the visitors by an innings and 88 runs in their Group B Ranji Trophy match at VCA Civil Lines ground on Saturday.
Resuming at the overnight score of 51-2, Himachal Pradesh were all out for 180 in their second essay after Vidarbha posted 575 in the first innings.
The fourth win on the trot, which fetched Vidarbha a bonus point, helped them consolidate their position at the top of Group B with 25 points, followed by Gujarat, who drew their match against Pondicherry, at second spot with 18 in their bag.
Two-time Ranji champions and last year’s runners-up Vidarbha will next play Gujarat at VCA Jamtha from November 13.
The 22-year-old Dubey, who took a match haul of 11-107, used his ‘secret weapon’ brilliantly against Himachal Pradesh as the Rishi Dhawan-led side, failed to read his turners and fell like nine pins. “Those are the secret deliveries which I bowled to Himachal batters and fetched wickets. I will not reveal them otherwise everybody will take note of it,” said Dubey when asked about his deliveries in the second innings where he took six out of 10 wickets.
“I kept on changing the pace of deliveries in the air and foxed them,” added Dubey who now sits at the top of the bowling chart with 34 dismissals from eight innings.
Dubey now boasts an impressive 62 First-Class wickets in 12 matches.
Himachal’s downfall started with the wicket of night-watchman Mayank Dagar who was brilliantly caught at slips by Athrava Taide off Praful Hinge.
Dubey then sent back another overnight batter Ankit Kalsi trapping him in front with a straighter one.
Wickets continued to fall as Dubey spun his web around Himachal batters who looked clueless while dealing with the spinner’s variations. Dhawan was the last recognised batter and Dubey got him lbw at the stroke of lunch as they crumbled to 114-7.
“Out of the 11 scalps I really enjoyed taking the wicket of opener Prashant Chopra in both the innings. Those (deliveries) were the best,” said Dubey as he was named player of the match.
The formalities were completed 46 minutes after lunch.
“I wanted to bowl from the far end but captain (Akshay Wadkar) told me the seamers were getting help from that end. Hence I bowled from the pavilion end today,” said Dubey who took four out of his six wickets from dressing room end.
Captain Akshay Wadkar was happy with the resounding win with bonus point and said the team is aiming to finish at the top. “We want to finish at the top of table which would help us play all our knock-out matches at home. I am happy with the team is performing and all are contributing,” he concluded.
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