Vidarbha all out for 74

 

 

GUJARAT pacers Chintan Gaja and Tejas Patel rattled Vidarbha innings in two-and-a-half hours and then opener Aarya Desai scored more than hosts’ first innings total to gain upper hand on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group D match at Vidarbha Cricket Association’s Jamtha Stadium on Tuesday.

After Vidarbha were bundled out for a paltry 74 runs in 30.3 overs before lunch, Gujarat rode on opener Aarya Desai’s half century (88) to post 188 for five and take the lead of 114 runs.

At stumps, captain Het Patel (14) and Hemang Patel (5) were at the crease. Vidarbha managed to take five wickets, four in the last session of play. Aditya Sarvate, playing his 50th FC match, took three wickets while Akshay Wakhare and Yash Thakur took one each. Sarvate first sent opener Priyesh Patel for a 13-ball duck. He then broke the second wicket partnership of 117 runs between Desai (88) and Bhargav Merai (40), sending back the latter. Desai’s furniture was then rattled with a slow and low delivery as the batter tried to pull it towards mid-wicket. Desai showed how to bat on the surface and hit some elegant boundaries.

Wakhare was welcomed with two successive fours by left-handed opener Desai, one straight and the other through mid-wicket region. Desai took Wakhare for some special treatment as he hit another straight boundary from the first delivery of the spinner’s third over. The Gujarat opener completed his half century with a straight drive boundary off Nachiket Bhute.

Earlier, Vidarbha’s Faiz Fazal, removed from the captaincy burden, was the first to go after playing a 12-ball duck.

Vidarbha’s scoresheet looked like a school division game. Five players failed to open their account while three succumbed scoring in single digits. R Sanjay, who batted for just over two hours for his 61-ball 33 and Aditya Sarvate who scored 17 runs, added 36 runs for the sixth wicket, highest of Vidarbha’s innings.

It was Gujarat seamers’ morning. Tejas Patel and Chintan Gaja bowled with pace and accuracy. Both bowled 16 overs in tandem and troubled Vidarbha from both the ends. In their first spell of eight overs each, they took five wickets, with Tejas taking three. The duo swung the ball both ways that helped them push Vidarbha to the wall.