Vidarbha in dire straits against Gujarat

NAGPUR: Wednesday, January 29, 2020 will be the most important day of this domestic season for Vidarbha.
So far, their Ranji Trophy campaign has blown hot and cold. It wasn't any different for the defending champions on the Day 2 of their Elite Group 'A' match against Gujarat on Tuesday. Fortunes fluctuated the whole day. Whenever they looked on top, Gujarat put them under pressure.
They started off extremely well picking up four quick wickets to reduce Gujarat to 110-5 before first drinks break after the host resumed at overnight 88-1.Pace duo of Aditya Thakare (20.2-10-43-5) and Umesh Yadav (22-6-82-3) picked important wickets to wreck Gujarat middle order.
Gujarat, then fought back through their skipper Parthiv Patel (58, 135b, 6x4), who held one end. Chirag Gandhi (49, 90b, 2x4, 5x6) then played aggressively to anchor the lower order. He had important stands with Roosh Kalaria (25, 21b, 4x4) and Arzan Nagwaswalla to help Gujarat reach 211 with an important 69-run lead at Laljibhai Contractor Stadium in Surat.
Thakare's second five-wicket haul in as many matches made sure Vidarbha remained still in the game when Gujarat innings got over. However, yet another top order collapse put Vidarbha in a soup for the second time in the match.
At one stage, they were 25-4, with opener Abiruddha Choudhari (0), Wasim Jaffer (1), Ganesh Satish (3) and Mohit Kale (3) gone for single digit scores. Skipper Faiz Fazal and Akshay Wadkar added an unbeaten 65 for the fourth wicket as Vidarbha ended the day at 89-4 with a lead of 20.
Vidarbha skipper Faiz would have hoped for an early wrap up of Gujarat innings when Thakare got the prized scalp of Parthiv. At 123-6, Vidarbha looked good to restrict Gujarat under 160 but Gandhi batted extremely well with the lower order. The right-hander had a 31-run partnership with Roosh Kalaria -who actually started taking on Vidarbha bowlers - that took Gujarat past 150-run mark. Thakare and Yadav again struck when Choudhari's brilliant work on the field reduced Gujarat to 175.
Gandhi, however, had other ideas as he tore apart Vidarbha attack with some big hitting. All his five sixes landed way beyond boundary line. His crucial 36-run stand gave Gujarat a slight advantage.
The momentum was again with Gujarat and their bowlers maintained the tempo of the game. Kalaria cleaned up Choudhari in his second over, while Chintan Gaza got a big wicket of Jaffer when he trapped the legendary cricketer in front. Jaffer fell to single digit score for the second time in the match. In-form Satish and Kale spent time in the middle but failed to carry on.
To their credit, Gujarat pacers did simple things correctly and kept attacking stumps. Unlike Vidarbha bowlers, they didn't give freebies to rival batsmen. All seven boundaries in the Vidarbha innings came off Faiz's bat. Vidarbha would be hoping for this pair to bat as long as possible to make a match of it. Faiz and Wadkar need to negate the first hour on Day 3, where bowlers have generally got something out of the wicket.
SCOREBOARD
Vidarbha (1st Innings): 142
Gujarat (1st Innings, overnight 88-1): Parthiv Patel c Wakhare b Thakare 58, Bhargav Merai c Choudhari b Thakare 29, Manpreet Juneja lbw b Thakare 1, Rujul Bhatt b Yadav 0, Kshitij Patel lbw b Yadav 6, Chirag Gandhi not out 49, Roosh Kalaria b Sarvate 25, Chintan Gaja b Yadav 0, Siddhartha Desai run out (Choudhari) 1, Arzan Nagwaswalla c Wakhare b Thakare 12.
Extras: (lb 2, nb 3) 5.
Total: (All out, 70.2 Overs) 211
Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-89, 3-91, 4-98, 5-110, 6-123, 7-154, 8-157, 9-175.
Bowling: Aditya Thakare 20.2-10-43-5, Umesh Yadav 22-6-82-3, Lalit Yadav 17-4-69-0, Faiz Fazal 1-0-3-0, Akshay Wakhare 4-0-5-0, Aditya Sarvate 6-2-7-1.
Vidarbha (2nd Innings): Faiz Fazal batting 45, Aniruddha Choudhari b Kalaria 0, Wasim Jaffer lbw b Gaja 1, Ganesh Satish b Nagwaswalla 3, Mohit Kale lbw b Kalaria 1, Akshay Wadkar batting 35.
Extras: (lb 3, nb 1) 4.
Total: (Four wickets, 46 Overs) 89.
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-4, 3-17, 4-25.
Bowling: Roosh Kalaria 15-10-15-2, Chintan Gaja 14-6-24-1, Arzan Nagwaswalla 9-2-21-1, Rujul Bhatt 2-1-1-0, Siddharth Desai 6-0-25-0.