Vidarbha tightened their grip on their Ranji Trophy semifinal against Madhya Pradesh, inching closer to a thrilling victory in Nagpur on March 5. With just four wickets remaining, the hosts are poised to set up a date in the summit clash with Mumbai.
Madhya Pradesh, chasing 321 to win, reached 228 for six at stumps on day four. Their hopes of reaching their second final in three years suffered a major blow when Aditya Sarwate (2/51) dismissed Yash Dubey (94) in the penultimate over of the day.
Dubey had played a valiant knock, consuming 212 balls and hitting 10 fours. He forged a crucial 106-run stand with Harsh Gawali (67), but once they were separated, Vidarbha kept making inroads.
Madhya Pradesh lost first-innings centurion Himanshu Mantri for a mere eight in the second essay. The failure of their middle-order trio of Sagar Solanki (12), Shubham Sharma (6), and Venkatesh Iyer (19) further hurt their cause.
Akshay Wakhare was the star for Vidarbha, accounting for these three batters. Sarwate’s late strike to dismiss Dubey put the two-time winners in the pole position.
Earlier in the day, Vidarbha added 59 runs to their overnight score of 343 for six, setting a target of 321 for Madhya Pradesh. Yash Rathod brought up his century and finished with a high score of 141, hitting 18 fours and two sixes.
For Madhya Pradesh, Anubhav Agarwal returned 5/92. Madhya Pradesh had taken a lead of 82 runs in the first innings, responding with 252.
