Good morning, welcome to Sportstar 's live coverage of Day 2 of Ranji Trophy final between Vidarbha and Saurashtra, being played at Jamtha Stadium, Nagpur.
Through the day, we'll bring you updates from the venue, where Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya, our correspondent, is at.
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Cheteshwar Pujara fell cheaply as Vidarbha bowlers ran through the Saurashtra top-order to reduce the visitor to 158/5, still trailing the host side's first-innings score by 154 runs.
Snell Patel, unbeaten on 87, has held fort at one end and will be hoping to convert this into a big score! We have an absorbing third day's play coming up. Join us again at 9:30 am tomorrow; until then have a nice day!
4:27pm Umesh Yadav back in the attack! Another wicket will turn the game in Vidarbha's favour. Snell Patel's wicket will be crucial as he is the only batsman who looks comfortable in the middle.
4:10pm OUT! Saurashtra loses half of its side for 131. Sheldon Jackson looks distraught after he is given out for 9 runs in Akshay Wakhare's bowling, caught by keeper Akshay Wadkar. There seemed to be some part of the glove involved which convinced umpire Shamshuddin to raise his finger.
3:42pm: Arpit Vasavada gone! The left-hander is caught off guard by the bounce generated by Akshay Wakhare's delivery which landed on middle and spun sharply. The outside edge lands for an easy slip catch for Wasim Jaffer. The spinner gets his first wicket of the innings. Saurashtra 115-4
3:28pm Hundred up for Saurashtra! Arpit Vasavada and Snell Patel take the score past three-figure mark after Cheteshwar Pujara departed for one run. Patel has been rock-solid with a contribution of 57 runs to the total.
3:10pm Fifty for Snell Patel! The Saurashtra opener reaches his half-century in 90 balls which includes nine boundaries. The right-hander has kept his eye on the ball, played his shots late and put away the bad balls.
2:40pm OUT! Cheteshwar Pujara has gone for 1! Aditya Sarwate picks up his third wicket and it's the biggest of 'em all! Pujara pokes at a harmless delivery on and around off stump, Sarwate finds the outside edge and Wasim Jaffer at first slip takes a good low catch. Saurashtra 81 for three and the players walk off for tea. Vidarbha leads by 231 runs.
2:37pm The individual battle we have waited for is here: Cheteshwar Pujara faces up to Umesh Yadav, who is in operation and trying to get the ball (that is 29 overs old now) to reverse. This should be intriguing to watch!
2:23pm OUT! Vishvaraj Jadeja is out lbw to Aditya Sarwate for 18, ending his 72-ball stay in the middle and his 61-run partnership with Snell Patel for the second wicket. Sarwate's delivery straightened after pitching and Jadeja was late on his shot. The ball hit him low on his front pad and umpire Anil Chaudhary had no hesitation. Saurashtra 79 for two. Cheteshwar Pujara is the new batsman in!
2:10pm Snell Patel and Vishvaraj Jadeja have put together 60 runs for the second wicket. Akshay Karnewar and Akshay Wakhare have yet to trouble the batsmen with their fingerspin; in fact, Patel and Jadeja seem happier playing these two spinners. But as we say it, Aditya Sarwate has been reintroduced into the attack and he gets the first ball of his new spell to turn prodigiously past Patel's bat with a delivery that pitched on leg stump. Patel is going strong on 48, Jadeja is off to a start and batting on 18. Saurashtra 79 for one, trails by 233 runs.
1:35pm Rajneesh Gurbani is testing Snell Patel and Vishvaraj Jadeja with sharp inswingers, which have so far been handled with relative comfort. Akshay Karnewar is operating from the other end. An important passage of play in progress with Saurashtra 33 for one.
12:49pm Aditya Sarwate gives Vidarbha an early breakthrough. He removes Harvik Desai for 10, out lbw. Saurashtra 18 for one.
12:37pm Harvik Desai and Snell Patel open the innings for Saurashtra. Rajneesh Gurbani will begin proceedings for Vidarbha.
11:55am Kamlesh Makvana bowls Rajneesh Gurbani for six, helping Saurashtra bowl out Vidarbha for 312. 112 runs were added this morning, with Akshay Karnewar finishing unbeaten on 73.
11:40am Rajneesh Gurbani gets off the mark with a four and in the process, brings up 300 for Vidarbha. It is 303 for nine. Umesh Yadav was the last wicket to fall, caught by Snell Patel off Jaydev Unadkat for 13.
11:10am OUT! Chetan Sakariya gives Saurashtra the first breakthrough of the second morning. He breaches the defence of Akshay Wakhare, who is bowled for 34, but not before he added 78 runs for the eighth wicket with Akshay Karnewar. Umesh Yadav is the new batsman in. Vidarbha 274 for eight. Second wicket for Sakariya.
10:30am A perfect first hour for Vidarbha, which has added 51 runs for the loss of no wickets. Akshay Karnewar is batting on 44 and Akshay Wakhare, who has been the dominant of the two this morning, is batting on 27. The pair has scored at four runs per over.
10:05am First bowling change: left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja replaces Chetan Sakariya. He has a short-leg and slip to start with.
9:54am A streaky four off the blade of Akshay Wakhare to cap off the fifth over of the day. Vidarbha moves to 216 for seven; 16 runs added for the loss of no wickets. Jaydev Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya have predominantly bowled a stump-to-stump line, pitching the odd one short to keep the batsmen honest. The new ball hasn't done much in the air or off the surface in the opening half-hour.
9:30am All set for the second day's play. Jaydev Unadkat to bowl to Akshay Karnewar, who's batting on 31 and has Akshay Wakhare for company.
9:25am Vidarbha coach, Chandrakant Pandit, makes an observation on the Day 2 pitch: "The ball's not coming on to the bat, but we didn't expect to bat like we did [on Day 1]."
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Saurashtra had the better of the first day, restricting the defending champion Vidarbha to 200 for seven after losing the toss. Akshay Wadkar top-scored for Vidarbha with 45, with Wasim Jaffer, Mohit Kale and Ganesh Sathish among those who got off to starts but couldn't play a substantial innings. All the Saurashtra bowlers were amongst the wickets. ( Day 1 report )
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