Bowlers do their job, Vidarbha on top despite conceding lead

Nagpur: After being under pressure for two days, Vidarbha found their mojo on Sunday. Though the day saw Vidarbha concede the lead, bowlers put the former champions back on track against Services on Day 3 of the Elite Group ‘A’ Ranji Trophy match. Vidarbha seamers, led by young Aditya Thakare, shared eight wickets between them as Services were bundled out for just 155 in their second innings at VCA’s Civil Lines Stadium. With the experienced opening pair of Faiz Fazal (20;38b;2x4) and Sanjay Ramaswamy (25;46b;3x4) putting up an unbeaten 45-run stand, Vidarbha now have 133 to chase on the final day with all wickets still intact.

Vidarbha’s ascendency looked a distant proposition in the first session. They were bowled out for 219 early in the first session. Overnight unbeaten batter Umesh Yadav scored 18 runs before being bowled by Varun Choudhary on 32 (40b;1x4;2x6).Right-arm medium pacer Choudhary then removed Akshay Wakhare to complete his six-wicket haul and give Services a 22-run lead.Services' intentions were clear as opener Shubham Rohilla hit Umesh Yadav for a boundary on the first ball of the innings. In Yadav's next over, Ravi Chauhan, the other opener hit back-to-back fours.In between, Thakare, like in the first innings, started on a miserly note, bowling a maiden over. In the nine balls to Chauhan, Thakare gave just a single before trapping him before the wicket with Services on 22 in six overs. Thakare was back to choking business against Services’ No.3 Aanshul Gupta. After bowling nine consecutive dot balls to Gupta, Thakare sent him back on the 10th with Karun Nair doing the catching job. At that stage Thakare had two wickets from five overs, three of which were maiden, conceding just six runs. His twin strikes reduced Services to 37 for 2 in 10.4 overs. In the next over, Darshan Nalkande removed Vineet Dhankhar to further dent Services’ innings.Rohilla with skipper Rajat Paliwal tried to steady the ship with a 29-run fourth wicket partnership. But Nalkande induced an edge from Paliwal which was pocketed by Akshay Wadkar behind the stump. That Paliwal (14;46b;2x4) was the second top scorer reflected the dominance of Vidarbha bowlers.Yadav then came back into the attack to remove Lovekesh Bansal and Rohilla (52;97b;7x4) to end Services' resistance. Vice captain Aditya Sarvate and Thakare then wrapped up the Services innings.BRIEF SCORESServices: 241 all out & 155 all out in 54.3 overs (Shubham Rohilla 52, Poonam Poonia 17; Aditya Thakare 4-44, Aditya Sarvate 2-16, Darshan Nalkande 2-29, Umesh Yadav 2-47) lead Vidarbha (Overnight 191 for 8 in 74 overs): 219 all out in 83.1 overs (Akshay Wadkar 59, Umesh Yadav 32; Varun Choudhary 6-47, Poonam Poonia 2-45) & 45 for no loss in 14 overs (Sanjay Ramaswamy 25*; Faiz Fazal 20*) by 132 runs.