Vaibhav Tripathi in Nagpur
Twin strikes from Manav Suthar in the first session had reduced Vidarbha to 80/3. Atharva Taide then led his team’s fightback with an unbeaten 118, alongside Yash Rathod’s 91, taking Vidarbha to 280/5 at stumps on Day 1 of the Irani Cup. The Rest of India bowlers toiled hard on a hot day. Suthar bagged three wickets, while Akash Deep took a couple in the 14 overs he bowled.
At the start of play, only a few pockets of the stands were filled. As soon as the action began, with Akash Deep and Anshul Kamboj bowling in tandem for the Rest of India, the crowd started building up. By the time the first wicket fell, the number of spectators had increased in the only stand reserved for them. Even though a home team wicket had fallen, the crowd was delighted for Akash Deep, who’s playing his first game after injury.
Bowling over the wicket and angling the ball in, he got one to straighten just enough — it was too good for Aman Mokhade. The 24-year-old Vidarbha opener was initially given not out, but a successful review saw the back of him. A 40-run partnership was followed by another, as Atharva and Dhruv Shorey added 40 runs for the second wicket.
Suthar came into the attack late in the first session and made an instant impact. The left-arm spinner bagged two wickets in one over to reduce Vidarbha to 80/3. Shorey was cleaned up by a beautiful delivery that spun sharply away from the outside edge of the bat to hit the timber. Danish Malewar was also outfoxed by Suthar as the ball turned away from him, took the outside edge, and went straight to Ishan Kishan behind the stumps.
The first session was evenly shared, with over a hundred runs scored for the loss of three wickets. Vidarbha fought back with a wicketless second session. Both Atharva and Rathod completed their half-centuries during that period. Suthar and Saransh Jain did the bulk of the bowling in the afternoon session, with Gurnoor Brar chipping in with a few overs in between.
There was an exciting battle between Rathod and Saransh. A couple of close LBW appeals were turned down against Rathod, who is regarded as a good player of spin. But Saransh couldn’t maintain the pressure, as both left-handers found ways to rotate the strike with singles and doubles. They neutralised the threat of Suthar by using an array of sweep shots. Rathod, in particular, looked to unsettle the spinners with conventional sweeps. His footwork against spin was admirable. Even against pace, the Vidarbha duo looked solid in defence.
With conditions favouring batting, the Rest of India bowlers couldn’t create many opportunities. The sun beating down on the players didn’t help, as the bowlers looked increasingly flat.
Akash Deep and Kamboj weren’t used much in the second or third sessions.
After the tea break, Atharva and Rathod adopted a more attacking approach, playing more shots to put the tired spin duo of Suthar and Saransh under pressure. Atharva reached his century with a six over long-on and celebrated in style.
The crowd erupted as the home team batter reached the milestone.
Rathod then smashed Suthar for a six over long-on. However, off the very next ball, the bowler beat him in the flight to induce a false shot — one shot too many for Rathod, who missed out on a well-deserved hundred.
That was the wicket the Rest of India desperately needed. Just before the end of play, Akash Deep removed Vidarbha skipper Akshay Wadkar with another beauty.
Rajat Patidar brought in more close-in fielders for Yash Thakur, hoping for another breakthrough, but the nightwatchman survived. Seeing Patidar making changes and being more active in the closing moments of the day, the fully packed spectator stand began chanting “RCB”. Moments later, another section responded with “CSK”, and the light-hearted fan war had Akash Deep, who was standing near the ropes, smiling at the end.
