Ranji Trophy: Yash Rathod, Harsh Dubey rescue Vidarbha after early collapse

NAGPUR: Left proved right for Vidarbha on Friday, as two southpaw youngsters — Yash Rathod and Harsh Dubey — saved the team against minnows Puducherry. Rathod posted a century while Dubey finished Day 1 unbeaten on 69 to take Vidarbha to 261 for 8 after a top-order collapse.

At 4 for 14, Vidarbha, who opted to bat, were staring down the barrel for the second time in as many matches. Big names like Dhruv Shorey , Karun Nair, and Atharva Taide along with Aman Mokhade were back in the pavilion inside eight overs. Host seamers Gourav Yadav and Sagar Udeshi were exploiting the home conditions at the Cricket Association Puducherry ’s Siechem Stadium to the maximum.

Rathod (118;196b;8x4), though, timed his second Ranji Trophy century to perfection to guide Vidarbha to safety and also get back into the runs. Coming in at the crease in just the third over of the morning, with Vidarbha down at three for just four runs on the board, Rathod remained unbeaten over next 77 overs.

Rathod's first ton of Ranji Trophy had helped Vidabrha make a comeback against Madhya Pradesh in last year’s semifinal. On Friday, Rathod’s 197-ball knock took Vidarbha to relative safety.

The Vidarbha No. 5 batter stitched together three key partnerships — with skipper Akshay Wadkar , Akshay Karnewar and Dubey — to script the Vidarbha fightback after the team was left gasping by the early blows of the morning session.

Rathod’s last partnership of the day, with allrounder Dubey, was the most important one for Vidarbha. Before Dubey joined the rescue act, Rathod had two 50-plus partnerships each with Wadkar (31;50b;3x4) and Karnewar (16;53b;2x4). But with both the batters failing to convert starts into big knocks, Vidarbha were still tottering at six for 129.

In Dubey, Rathod found a partner willing to stay long at the wicket. The two batted together for almost 40 overs, adding 120 runs for the seventh wicket and bringing Vidarbha to a position from where they can hope to make a match out of it.

At the other end, allrounder Dubey (69*;150b;8x4) played the perfect supporting role. The day saw Dubey post his highest First Class score , as he posted his third fifty in the format. Vidarbha would hope Dubey carries on the good work on Day 2 and takes the team past the 300-run mark.

Brief Scores

Vidarbha: 261 for 8 in 83 overs (Yash Rathod 118, Harsh Dubey 69 batting, Akshay Wadkar 31; Gourav Yadav 3-57, Sagar Udeshi 2-40, Fabid Ahmed 2-51) vs Puducherry.