NAGPUR: The Vidarbha team is on a roll this season. After a few tight matches to start with, the former champions are playing, well, like champions do by posting comprehensive victories. After the innings drubbing of Himachal on Saturday, Vidarbha is the only team across the Elite Groups to boast of four wins in as many matches of the season so far.
On Saturday, Harsh Dubey played the catalyst as Vidarbha finished off Himachal early in the second session. Dubey, with five wickets in 18 overs he bowled on Day 4, finished the innings with figures of 6-36. With the returns of 11 for 107, his first 10-wicket match haul , Dubey played a key role in dismissing Himachal twice as Vidarbha posted a crushing victory by an innings and 88 runs.
Starting the day on 51 for 2, the overnight pair of Ankit Kalsi and nightwatchman Mayank Dagar kept the Vidarbha bowlers at bay for 10 overs. A blow from a fast delivery finally shattered Dagar’s grit as he fell to Praful Hinge soon after.
From there on Dubey took over the wicket-taking charge. The young left-arm spinner engineered the downfall of the next four wickets — Kalsi, Ekant Sen, Amit Kumar and skipper Rishi Dhawan — to send Himachal reeling at 114 for 7 at lunch.
Post the lunch break, off spinner Akshay Wakhare ended Akash Vasisht’s (34;57b;5x4;1x6) vigil while Dubey trapped Vaibbhav Arora for his sixth wicket. Hinge, who impressed with his pace, put an end to Mukul Negi’s (40;42b;4x3;3x6) cameo and Himachal’s inning with Yash Rathod pouching a well-judged skier.
Himachal’s second innings saw Dubey bowling 132 balls, with almost 80% of them, or 108 to be precise, being dots. Himachal batters managed just 4 boundaries in the 22 overs bowled by Dubey in the second innings. Dubey now leads the bowling chart of the season with 34 wickets from 8 innings with an average of 12.38 and strike rate of 32.52.
The fourth win in as many matches saw Vidarbha consolidate its position at the top of Elite Group ‘B’. With 25 points in the kitty, the side has a foot in the knockouts. Akshay Wadkar, Vidarbha skipper, though, isn’t allowing the team to let the guard down.
“We are taking every opponent seriously. One bad match can change the point table equations. If we top the table, we will get to play the quarterfinal in Nagpur and home advantage will be with us. We want to play good cricket in every game. Apart from winning matches, it also helps in boosting our confidence,” Wadkar said after the match.
Batters putting up a big 575 total paved the way for Vidarbha’s win on Saturday. The captain, though, pointed out that every batter scoring runs in the same match is a rarity. “It’s not always possible for the batting unit to click in unison. It happens in a one off match. In most matches one of the batters plays well while others chip in around him,” Wadkar said.
BRIEF SCORES
Himachal: 307 all out in 108 overs & (overnight 51 for 2 in 15 overs) 180 all in 61.1 overs (Mukul Negi 40, Akash Vasisht 34; Harsh Dubey 6-36; Praful Hinge 2-27, Akshay Wakhare 2-68) lost to Vidarbha: 575 all out by innings & 88 runs. Player of the match: Harsh Dubey.
On Saturday, Harsh Dubey played the catalyst as Vidarbha finished off Himachal early in the second session. Dubey, with five wickets in 18 overs he bowled on Day 4, finished the innings with figures of 6-36. With the returns of 11 for 107, his first 10-wicket match haul , Dubey played a key role in dismissing Himachal twice as Vidarbha posted a crushing victory by an innings and 88 runs.
Starting the day on 51 for 2, the overnight pair of Ankit Kalsi and nightwatchman Mayank Dagar kept the Vidarbha bowlers at bay for 10 overs. A blow from a fast delivery finally shattered Dagar’s grit as he fell to Praful Hinge soon after.
From there on Dubey took over the wicket-taking charge. The young left-arm spinner engineered the downfall of the next four wickets — Kalsi, Ekant Sen, Amit Kumar and skipper Rishi Dhawan — to send Himachal reeling at 114 for 7 at lunch.
Post the lunch break, off spinner Akshay Wakhare ended Akash Vasisht’s (34;57b;5x4;1x6) vigil while Dubey trapped Vaibbhav Arora for his sixth wicket. Hinge, who impressed with his pace, put an end to Mukul Negi’s (40;42b;4x3;3x6) cameo and Himachal’s inning with Yash Rathod pouching a well-judged skier.
Himachal’s second innings saw Dubey bowling 132 balls, with almost 80% of them, or 108 to be precise, being dots. Himachal batters managed just 4 boundaries in the 22 overs bowled by Dubey in the second innings. Dubey now leads the bowling chart of the season with 34 wickets from 8 innings with an average of 12.38 and strike rate of 32.52.
The fourth win in as many matches saw Vidarbha consolidate its position at the top of Elite Group ‘B’. With 25 points in the kitty, the side has a foot in the knockouts. Akshay Wadkar, Vidarbha skipper, though, isn’t allowing the team to let the guard down.
“We are taking every opponent seriously. One bad match can change the point table equations. If we top the table, we will get to play the quarterfinal in Nagpur and home advantage will be with us. We want to play good cricket in every game. Apart from winning matches, it also helps in boosting our confidence,” Wadkar said after the match.
Batters putting up a big 575 total paved the way for Vidarbha’s win on Saturday. The captain, though, pointed out that every batter scoring runs in the same match is a rarity. “It’s not always possible for the batting unit to click in unison. It happens in a one off match. In most matches one of the batters plays well while others chip in around him,” Wadkar said.
BRIEF SCORES
Himachal: 307 all out in 108 overs & (overnight 51 for 2 in 15 overs) 180 all in 61.1 overs (Mukul Negi 40, Akash Vasisht 34; Harsh Dubey 6-36; Praful Hinge 2-27, Akshay Wakhare 2-68) lost to Vidarbha: 575 all out by innings & 88 runs. Player of the match: Harsh Dubey.
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