‘Professional’ approach by Vidarbha

 

 

 

IN DIRE straits at three down for a mere six runs on the board, Vidarbha professionals Dhruv Shorey and Ravikumar Samarth bailed the team out from a precarious situation in their Elite Group A Ranji Trophy match at VCA’s Jamtha Stadium on Saturday. After being put into bat, Vidarbha recovered well through Shorey (128*; 250b, 10x4, 1x6) and Samarth (49; 144b, 3x4) as the hosts posted 234 runs losing five wickets by the end of Day One. Skipper Akshay Wadkar (0*; 10b) was giving Shorey company when stumps were drawn. After calling it right at the toss, Odisha skipper Subhranshu Senapati invited Vidarbha to take first strike.

 

With fresh wickets assisting the new ball, Vidarbha openers Aman Mokhade and Atharva Taide preferred to see off the new ball. An error in judgement cost in-form Mokhade (0; 7b) his wicket. The batter offered no stroke to an incoming Rajesh Mohanty delivery that thudded onto his pads and the umpire had an easy decision to make. Vidarbha lost first wicket for one on the board. With a further addition of three more runs, southpaw Taide (1; 24b), recalled to the side after sitting out of the last match, was gone.

 

He also did not trouble the scorers much and his edge off Mohanty was neatly picked at second slip by Sandeep Pattnaik. Parth Rekhade (2; 21b), who was sent ahead with sole intention of taking polish of the cherry, played the wrong line to be clean bowled. Tapas Das struck from the other end. In the tenth over, 9.4 to be precise, the hosts were tottering at 6-3. Dhruv and Samarth joined forces.

 

They had to bring all their experience to effect to bail out the team. The duo decided to spent some time and respect the conditions. Things improved with Shorey taking the lead. He scored 13 runs from left-arm spinner Jamala Mohapatra’s first over hitting a six and a four. Samarth on the other hand was ready for the grind. Another Shorey four brought 50 of the partnership and the side took lunch with 55 on the board.

 

As the Sun shone brightly in the sky and the turf started to ease up, pair in the middle stared to open up. Soon, Shorey completed his third fifty of the season and when it looked Samarth will also notch his third, the batter misread a Mohapatra arm-ball to be adjudged lbw ten minutes before tea. Their partnership of 141 runs that came off 310 balls in 214 minutes had calmed some nerves. Shorey and in-form Yash Rathod (38; 86b, 4x4), who has scored two centuries in the last three innings, kept up with the good work.

 

Both punished the loose and balls and ran some cheeky singles to frustrate Odisha fielders. There was no stopping Shorey who raced into 90s as the team crossed 150-mark. The second new ball did the trick as Das trapped Rathod after the pair had added 83 important runs for the fifth wicket. Vidarbha made three changes to the side from the last game handing two players First-Class caps. Gaurav Farde and Yash Kadam were selected in place of Akshay Karnewar and Lalit Yadav while Atharva Taide replaced last match’s debutant Satyam Bhoyar.