Irani Cup | Lower-order resistance helps Vidarbha continue domination

Vidarbha displayed its fighting instincts in plenty as the lower-order virtually shut the door on Rest of India (RoI) on the fourth day of the Irani Cup encounter at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, here on Saturday.

Thanks to captain Akshay Wadkar’s rescue act along with the tail, Vidarbha prevented RoI from clawing its way back into the contest by setting up a stiff target of 361 in four sessions on a pitch that has rapidly turned into a spinner’s paradise. In yet another curtailed final session due to a spell of shower, Aditya Thakare breached Aryan Juyal’s defences with a peach before left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey trapped Abhimanyu Easwaran in front of the stumps with an arm ball.

At close on the penultimate day, RoI was reeling at 30 for two, with captain Rajat Patidar and Ishan Kishan having survived an anxious 34 minutes together. Had Danish Malewar in the slip cordon not dropped three catches off Easwaran’s blade — on 0 and 4 off successive deliveries in Harsh’s opening over of the innings and on 10 off Thakare in the next — Vidarbha may have inched closer to its third Irani Cup title.

Vidarbha started the day with a lead of 224 and eight wickets in hand. RoI had to stage a collapse in a bid to give itself an outside chance. Anshul Kamboj was charged up, running through the Vidarbha middle-order. In a spell that read 5-1-12-3, Kamboj dismissed Danish Malewar (caught off the inside-edge), leftie Yash Rathod (went after a full one to nick behind) and Dhruv Shorey (ruled out lbw off one that jagged back in).

As a result, after the first half hour, Vidarbha had lost three wickets for just nine runs. Wadkar then stitched together vital partnerships with Harsh (39 for the sixth wicket) and Darshan Nalkande (35 for the eighth) to take the fizz out of the RoI attack.

Besides adding 127 runs combined, the last five Vidarbha wickets also batted for four-and-a-half hours before Nalkande (35, 92b, 2×4, 1×6) ran out of patience and mishit one off offie Saransh Jain.

The scores: Vidarbha 342 & 232 in 94.1 overs (Aman Mokhade 37, Akshay Wadkar 36, Darshan Nalkande 35, Anshul Kamboj 4/34) vs Rest of India 214 & 30/2 in 12 overs.