VIDARBHA top-order batters Atharva Taide and Dhruv Shorey hammered hundreds as the team closed in on an outright victory over Jharkhand in their Ranji Trophy match in Ranchi on Sunday. At close of play on Day 3, Jharkhand, chasing 429 runs for victory, were 51-3 in their second innings, still needing 378 with seven wickets remaining. Earlier, Vidarbha resumed their second innings on 166-1 and both their overnight not out batsmen — Atharva Taide and Dhruv Shorey duly registered their respective centuries.

 

The duo added 265 runs for the second wicket before Shorey was out for 113 (227b, 14x4). It was his first Ranji hundred for Vidarbha. Taide went on to log his highest First-Class score before departing for 138 (222b, 13x4, 3x6).

Skipper Akshay Wadkar notched his second half century of the match before declaring the innings at 374-9. Umesh Yadav dismissed Jharkhand opener Utkarsh Singh with his very first ball while Aditya Thakare and Yash Thakur also picked up a wicket each to put Vidarbha in command.