The promise of the second-wicket partnership between Yash Dubey (94, 212b, 10x4) and Harsh Gawali (67, 80b, 11x4) withered away in the wake of a meek middle-order display, leaving Vidarbha within reach of a victory against Madhya Pradesh in the first Ranji Trophy semifinal at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur on Tuesday.
MP was still in contention under Dubey’s watch, but his fall in the penultimate over of the fourth day left the side at 228 for six, still 93 runs away from victory.
The 106-run alliance between Dubey and Gawali was a course correction after Himanshu Mantri holed out at mid-on off Aditya Sarvate in the sixth over. While Dubey was content with the slap through point and the flick with which he flagged off the chase in Umesh Yadav’s first over, Gawali set the side’s counter in motion with three boundaries in as many deliveries off Yash Thakur.
Ranji Trophy Highlights, Day 4 Semifinal 2024
Gawali drew from his share of luck too, when his poke outside off against Thakur flew between second slip and gully, getting him to a 54-ball 50. But the bowler had the last laugh, inducing an edge to the wicketkeeper.
Akshay Wakhare was aided by purchase as he accounted for Sagar Solanki and captain Shubham Sharma before Tea. Just when Venkatesh Iyer brought hope with an assault, Wakhare’s delivery jumped from a length, took the shoulder of Iyer’s bat, and went to first slip.
Dubey, who brought up a fifty in 84 balls, was desperate for support when Saransh Jain arrived. Their 32 runs for the sixth wicket came at a trickle but steered the side closer to victory. However, an inside edge popped up for silly point off Dubey’s pad and turned the plot again.
Earlier in the day, Yash Rathod’s burst helped Vidarbha set a fighting target. He took two deliveries in the morning to breach the fence and register his maiden First-Class century, off 167 deliveries. Rathod then latched on when Kulwant Khejroliya offered width, picking up two more boundaries through point.
Rathod remained a thorn for MP even as his side slipped from 377 for six to 385 for nine. Rathod pummelled Anubhav Agarwal for back-to-back sixes over mid-wicket to swell his team’s total past 400 runs. It was a slower one from Khejroliya that foxed him on 141, taking his inside edge and ricocheting onto the stumps.
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