DEFENDING champions Vidarbha, after a perfect batting show, came out blazing with the ball too as the bowlers struck in unison to dismiss Uttar Pradesh cheaply for a massive lead in their Col CK Nayudu Trophy quarter-final match at Alembic 2 Cricket Ground in Vadodara on Thursday.

In reply to Vidarbha’s first innings score of 523, UP were shot out for a meagre 156. Vidarbha did not enforce follow on and in their second essay were 109-4 swelling their overall lead to a huge 476 runs by end of third day’s play.

Yash Kadam and skipper Siddhesh Wath were the not out batsmen on four and zero respectively.

Early part of the day belonged to Vidarbha bowlers. Seamer Nachiket Bhute (3-24), who had given the team the first wicket on Wednesday evening, struck twice inside the first hour. He got rid of both the overnight batsmen Sawan Singh (5) and Sameer Rizvi (6) having them caught at the wicket by Wath.

Captain Sameer Choudhary (40) and Prince Yadav (59*) took the score from 35-4 to 120 when the former was again snapped by Wath off another pacer Praful Hinge (3-39). Left-arm spinner Parth Rekhade (3-25) took three wickets in a row and then Hinge polished off the last two.

Vidarbha preferred to bat out UP and did not enforce the follow on despite a lead of 367 runs. Make-shift opener Mandar Mahalle failed once again in the match becoming an early casualty. And like in the first innings Aman Mokhade (56; 89b, 9x4), who scored his second fifty of the match, and Yash Rathod (44; 101b, 7x4) played matured knocks. However, within ten runs, Rathod, Mohit Kale and Mokhade departed leaving it for Kadam and Wath to see off the day.