Vidarbha tighten grip as Rest of India face uphill chase in Irani Cup

Nagpur, Oct 4 (PTI) Nagpur, Oct 4 (PTI) Vidarbha stayed firmly in control of the Irani Cup final, setting Rest of India a stiff 361-run target before reducing them to 30 for two in 12 overs when rain forced an early close on the fourth day here on Saturday.

Resuming at 96 for two, the Ranji Trophy champions were bowled out for 232 in 94.1 overs, but a handy first-innings lead of 128 gave the hosts enough cushion to push RoI onto the backfoot.

Seamer Anshul Kamboj rocked Vidarbha early with a superb three-wicket burst in successive overs.

He first removed overnight batter Danish Malewar (16) with the second ball of the day, then accounted for Yash Rathod (five) in his next over before trapping opener Dhruv Shorey (27) lbw, reducing Vidarbha to 105/5 in five overs into the fourth morning.

Skipper Akshay Wadkar (36 off 125 balls) held the innings together with his dogged resistance, adding 39 with Harsh Dubey (29) and later 35 with Darshan Nalkande (35), as Vidarbha ensured their innings did not implode.

Wickets, however, kept tumbling at the other end, with Gurnoor Brar (2/41), Saransh Jain (2/52) and Manav Suthar (2/82) backing up Kamboj (4/34) to bowl them out.

Chasing the stiff target, Rest of India had their task cut out on a deteriorating surface and overcast conditions.

Openers Abhimanyu Easwaran and Aryan Juyal began briskly, with the Bengal batter striking back-to-back boundaries and the latter also finding the fence as 13 runs came in the opening over off Dubey.

But the promise did not last long.

Aditya Thakare cleaned up Juyal (six) with the final ball of the fourth over, before Abhimanyu (17 off 17 balls) was trapped lbw by Dubey with the first delivery of the seventh.

At 24/2, RoI were in trouble before rain came to their rescue. At stumps, Ishan Kishan (5 not out off 18) and skipper Rajat Patidar (2 not out off 22) were battling to keep the chase alive, with Thakare (1/8 in five overs) and Dubey (1/20 in six) keeping a tight leash.

With a target of 331 more runs to get and only eight wickets in hand, Rest of India will need something special on the final day to stop Vidarbha from lifting their third Irani Cup title.

Brief Scores: Vidarbha 342 and 232; 94.1 overs (Aman Mokhade 37, Akshay Wadkar 36, Darshan Nalkande 35; Anshul Kamboj 4/34, Gurnoor Brar 2/41, Saransh Jain 2/52, Manav Suthar 2/82).

Rest of India: 214 and 30/2; 12 overs (Ishan Kishan 5 batting, Rajat Patidar 2 batting). Target: 361 runs. PTI TAP ATK