Vidarbha in driver’s seat

By Patitosh Pramanik

February 11

ADITYA Thakare took his first five-wicket haul of the season in the morning and, as the shadows lengthened, Yash Rathod hit a calm unbeaten half century which helped Vidarbha take a huge 297 runs lead over Tamil Nadu on the third day of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final match at VCA Civil Lines Stadium on Monday.

The lead, which will definitely swell once the two unbeaten batters Rathod (55) and Harsh Dubey (29) walk again on the morrow, has put the former two-time champions Vidarbha in the driver’s seat.

After scoring 353 in the first innings, Vidarbha bundled out Tamil Nadu for 225 in 64.3 overs, thanks to seamer Thakare’s fifer, his sixth overall. After taking 128-run lead, Vidarbha batted patiently to score 169 for five swelling their overall lead.

The healthy lead must be attributed to the undefeated sixth wicket partnership of 55 runs between  two left-handers Rathod and Dubey who batted brilliantly holding the fort after Vidarbha were in a sort 

of trouble with 114-5 in the 

44th over.

Rathod, who scored 13 in the first innings, completed his half century with a single off M Mohammed, looked determined to bat long against Tamil Nadu. He and Dubey made it sure they returned unbeaten when the stumps were drawn for the day.

With a cushion of 128 runs in the first innings, Vidarbha started brightly in the second essay on the third morning but lost wickets at reguar intervals. 

Taide (19), who got out on a duck in the first innings, hit four boundaries through covers to start his day on positive note. 

He looked in fine touch but in an attempt to clear the point region, he gave an easy catch to Boopathi Vaishna Kumar at gully off Sonu Yadav.

Danish Malewar fell for duck which slowed down the pace of Vidarbha innings. First innings centurion Karun Nair and opener Dhruv Shorey (20) too could not build up a big partnership as the latter was bowled by a delivery that kept low from rival captain Sai Kishore.

Nair (29) and Rathod then rotated the strike with singles and doubles to take Vidarbha’s lead to over 200.

The period between lunch and tea was a tad slow with Vidarbha losing two wickets. 

There were occasional boundaries, with the straight six from Nair off Vijay Shankar which stood out. But Nair was caught first ball after tea with Boopathi Vaishna Kumar collecting a regulation catch at slips off Vijay Shankar.

Rathod survived an LBW decision off pacer Sonu Yadav when on 17. The umpire raised his finger and Rathod immediately went for DRS. The review showed that the ball had hit the bat first. Next delivery, Rathod picked a boundary of a beautiful backfoot punch through covers to regain his confidence.

In the morning, Tamil Nadu managed to add only 66 runs as their innings folded at 225 after playing for 96 minutes. Thakare completed his first five-wicket haul of season taking the last wicket of Sonu Yadav caught by captain-keeper Akshay Wadkar. 

Pradosh Ranjan Paul, overnight 18, scored 48 runs before he was caught by Taide at second slip. 

The ball popped out of his hands on the first attempt but Taide pounced it, giving Nachiket Bhute his second wicket of the innings. 

The remaining batters did not trouble Vidarbha for long.

Thakare was happy with his first five wicket haul of the season. “I am happy for this first fifer of the season. Hope to continue in same vein,” he said after the day’s play.

On what target Vidarbha would look to putting for Tamil Nadu, Thakare said “anything around 350-370 would be enough.”