Ranji Trophy champions Vidarbha left Rest of India (RoI) reeling at 142 for 5 as bad light forced early close of Day 2 in their Irani Cup match, in Nagpur, on Thursday.
Resuming the day on 280 for 5, Vidarbha added 62 runs in 17.4 overs to be all out for 342 in the morning session as their top-scorer Atharva Taide (143) added 25 runs to his overnight tally of 118..
In reply, RoI batters, except for opener Abhimanyu Easwaran (52) and captain Rajat Patidar (42 not out), struggled to get going as they made 142 for 5 at stumps in 53 overs to trail Vidarbha by 200 runs.
Manav Suthar (1 not out) was giving company to Patidar when the umpires called early stumps due to bad light.
RoI scored 20 runs in the morning session with Easwaran and Aryan Juyal unseparated at the lunch break.
In the post-lunch session, they added 74 more runs for the loss of two wickets. Easwaran and Juyal stitched 52 runs for the opening wicket before the latter got out for 23 off 63 balls off the bowling of Parth Rekhade.
One-down batter Yash Dhull did not last long as he could make only 11 off 12 balls before falling to Harsh Dubey.
At tea, RoI were 94 for 2, trailing by 248 runs. They could score just 48 runs in the truncated final session while losing three crucial wickets -- that of Easwaran (52), Ruturaj Gaikwad (9) and Ishan Kishan (1).
For Vidarbha, Parth Rekhade was the most successful bowler with figures of 2-24, while Dubey, Darshan Nalkande and Yash Thakur took a wicket apiece.
Brief Scores: Vidarbha 280-5 in 84 overs (Atharva Taide 143, Yash Rathod 91; Akash Deep 2-35, Manav Suthar 3-64) Vs Rest of India: 142 for 5 in 53 overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran 52, Rajat Patidar 42 not out; Parth Rekhade 2-24).
© 2025