MAKE hay while the sun shines, goes a saying. On a roll, Vidarbha boys are making most of their form and in their Cooch Behar Trophy opener against minnows Manipur, they recorded Vidarbha’s biggest ever victory among all formats and across all age groups on Sunday. The match played at Vidarbha Cricket Association’s Kalamna Stadium will go down in the Vidarbha’s history book as the colts recorded a crushing innings and 515 runs win inside two days of the four-day match. After posting a mammoth 676 for four declared in 113.1 overs, Vidarbha shot out Manipur twice in just more than two sessions on second day. The team from north-east were shot out for a mere 52 in 20.1 overs in the first innings with left-arm seamer Rajsingh Chauhan (9.1-4-25-7) wreaking havoc. In the second essay, Manipur skipper-stumper Ulenyai Khwairakpam (50; 89b, 11x4) presented some resistance but Vidarbha bowlers shared wickets to bundle them out for 109 in 42.5 overs. A day after batters Neel Athaley and Danish Malewar created Vidarbha record by scoring two double centuries in one innings, the bowlers complemented superbly. Vidarbha started the day at 549-3 with opener Athaley retired hurt at his overnight score of 251.

 

Wicketkeeper Rohit Binkar (60*; 87b, 7x4, 2x6) and vice-captain Jagjot Singh Sasan (64; 62b, 9x4) helped themselves with quick fifties before the declaration came. If the Manipur players thought that they were saved from further punishment and embarrassment, they were proved wrong by Vidarbha bowlers who were just two good for them. Seamers Chauhan and Pratham Maheshwari (9-5-19-2) shared all the wickets among them with the latter also effecting a run out. As many as five batters could not open their account and only two scored in double digits. Asked to bat second time in the day, Manipur batters again had a poor start.

 

This time Dharmendra Thakur (7-4-12-2) reduced them to 5-2 by the fifth over. After accounting for an opener, left-arm spinner Gaurav Farde (13-5-24-4) polished off the middle and lower order with help from Jagjot and Chauhan, who removed the top-scorer for fine match figures of 9-44. Vidarbha next play Andhra at the same venue from November 12. Brief scores: Vidarbha 676-4 d in 113.1 overs (N Athaley Retired Hurt 251, D Malewar 262, Jagjot 64, R Binkar 60*; L Singh 2-109) bt Manipur 52 AO in 20.1 overs (Somokanta 15; R Chavan 7-25, P Maheshwari 2-19) and 109 AO in 42.5 overs (U Khwairakpam 50; G Farde 4-24, D Thakur 2-12, Jagjot 2-19, R Chavan 2-19) by an innings and 515 runs.