Hanging in: Abhimanyu brings up his timely half-century in 112 balls.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Vidarbha tightened its grip on the Irani Cup contest with a commanding display on the second day at the VCA Stadium in Jamtha. After being bowled out for 342 in the morning, the hosts struck at regular intervals to leave the fancied Rest of India (RoI) reeling at 142 for five at stumps.
The day began with overnight centurion Atharva Taide looking for support from the lower order. But Vidarbha’s last five wickets could muster only 62 runs, the innings wrapped up moments after Taide – having earlier produced the shot of the day with a crunching cover drive off Akash Deep – was undone by Saransh Jain’s arm-ball.
If the hosts’ batting ended with a whimper, their bowlers ensured momentum swung firmly back in their favour. Darshan Nalkande broke the 52-run opening stand when Aryan Juyal was trapped leg-before on a marginal call. Abhimanyu Easwaran looked compact en route to a half-century but his dismissal soon after – edging left-arm spinner Parth Rekhade – pulled RoI back.
Half an hour earlier, Yash Dhull’s impetuous charge against Harsh Dubey ended in a stumping. In came Ruturaj Gaikwad, at No. 5, but Yash Thakur’s ploy of bowling short outside off lured Ruturaj Gaikwad into slicing to Yash Rathod at deep third. When Ishan Kishan, having already endured a forgettable outing behind the stumps on Day 1, was pinned lbw by Rekhade, RoI was in deeper trouble.
Skipper Rajat Patidar (42*, 90b, 6×4) stood firm, displaying his familiar range through cover and square leg. He will resume on the third morning alongside Manav Suthar, with the lower order tasked to drag RoI closer to Vidarbha’s total.
The morning, though, had briefly belonged to RoI’s seamers. Having erred too wide outside off on the first day, the trio of Anshul Kamboj, Akash Deep and Gurnoor Brar recalibrated their lines with the second new ball, targeting the stumps and rewarded for it.
But as a cloud cover forced stumps at the start of the 30-minute extension, Vidarbha’s spinners ensured the host ended the day with a firm upper hand, their discipline and variety leaving RoI with an uphill climb to stay in contention.
Brief scores:
Vidarbha 342 in 101.4 overs (Atharva Taide 143, Yash Rathod 91; Akash Deep 3/51, Manav Suthar 3/74) vs Rest of India 142/5 in 53 overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran 52, Rajat Patidar 42 batting, Parth Rekhade 2/24).
Published – October 02, 2025 08:04 pm IST
