THE hosts will be aiming for full points as a batting-heavy Vidarbha take on lowly Odisha in their fourth round Elite Group A Ranji Trophy match at VCA Stadium Jamtha starting from Saturday. After an outright bonus-point win and two draws with first innings lead, defending champions Vidarbha are sitting at second spot in their group behind leaders Jharkhand.

 

Their match against Ishan Kishan-led Jharkhand at the same venue was rain affected and could not produce a result but with clear skies and no threat of any rains this time, Vidarbha would try to win big and consolidate their position on the points table. Vidarbha batsmen, led by opener Aman Mokhade and young run-machine Yash Rathod, have been in ominous form with the willow. Both the batters have struck two hundred each in the three innings they got to bat. Save for an umpiring howler in their last game against Tamil Nadu at Coimbatore, Mokhade would have got a third one under his belt.

 

Though professionals Dhruv Shorey and Ravikumar Samarth (with a couple of half centuries each) could not get to that coveted three-digit scores, they have been striking the ball well for their fifty-plus scores. A big one is due from both the classy players. Ranji Trophy winning skipper Akshay Wadkar (twice in forties) has also contributed with the willow but he would also like to play an impact knock to lead from the front.

 

The batting unit has gotten better with each outing having scored in excess of 450 in all their three innings in as many matches. They scored 463 against Nagaland in Bengaluru, made 492 versus Jharkhand and then piled on 501 in Tamil Nadu match. On the bowling front, Nachiket Bhute has been a revelation as a seam bowler.

 

He has picked two five-wicket hauls and a four-for along with a half century to his credit. Praful Hinge has given him good company with the ball bowling with zeal and that typical fast-bowler’s aggression. One might feel for all-rounder Akshay Karnewar as he could not deliver with the ball as expected.

 

He made way for young left-arm orthodox Gaurav Farde in the 17-member squad. Another of the same tribe, Parth Rekhade has not performed to his potential while the lone offie in squad Ganesh Bhosle is yet to get a game.

 

While there might be a change at top of the batting order, it will be interesting to see the bowling combination the hosts go with. Odisha are coming to this game on back of two consecutive loses. Placed second from the bottom, they have lost two games and played out a draw. Devoid of any big star player, the Subhransu Senapati-led side has the ability to spring up a surprise or two. Their batters came out with a much improved show in their last essay with opener Gaurav Choudhary and one down Sandeep Pattanaik doing the bulk of scoring hitting fifties.