Vidarbha bowlers ran over Maharashtra batters to dismiss them at 208 on the opening day of their Group A Ranji Trophy match at MCA Stadium in Pune on Friday. Captain Aditya Wadkar’s decision to bowl first was vindicated by the bowlers as they bundled out the host team in just 56.4 overs. In reply, Vidarbha had knocked off 111 runs for the loss of opener Atharva Taide (21). It left Vidarbha 97 runs shy of Maharashtra’s tally with nine wickets standing. Dhruv Shorey (55*) and Yash Rathod (29*) were at the crease when the stumps were drawn. In the morning, Vidarbha bowlers did not give Maharashtra batters time to settle down and took wickets at regular intervals. While pacers Yash Thakur and Lalit Yadav took two wickets each, experienced spinner Aditya Sarvate took three and Aditya Thakre and Harsh Dubey one each.

 

In-form pacer Thakare gave Vidarbha early breakthrough in the fourth of the day when he got opener Murtaza Trunkwala (6) caught by Shorey. Pawan Shah (35) and Kaushal Tambe (3) tried to build partnership scoring 42 runs for the second wicket but a brilliant run out by Lalit Yadav saw Shah returning back to the pavillion (60-2). From there on Vidarbha bowlers kept on taking wickets and at one time Maharashtra were reduced to 156 for nine by 47th over. But a fighting last-wicket stand of 52 runs between Manoj Ingale (36) and Pradeep Dadhe (15 not out) took the hosts cross the 200-run mark.

 

With over two hours left in the day to bat on, Vidarbha started in an aggressive way scoring at 4.62. Openers Taide and Shorey hit boundaries to take their score to 40 from 9.4 overs before the former was trapped in front by Akshay Palkar. Last match’s hero Rathod (29) and Shorey then joined hands and added an unbeaten 71 runs to help Vidarbha take control of the day. With three full days, Vidarbha have a bright chance to out bat Maharashtra and go for an outright win.