Madhya Pradesh’s batters unravelled in a horror opening session as Harsh Dubey and Parth Rekhade spun Vidarbha to an innings-and-20-run victory, earning a vital bonus point on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match at the VCA Jamtha Stadium here in Nagpur.
The visitor lost five wickets for three runs in a disastrous 30 minutes as the host’s left-arm spin twins caused chaos on a track with a little assistance but no real demons.
Returning unbeaten overnight, MP’s young pair of Saksham Purohit and Atharva Mahajan rode their luck at times through the first hour, but were successful in navigating the first hour of play from the seamers.
However, their luck ran out as soon as Harsh, standing in for absent captain Akshay Wadkar, brought himself into the attack and trapped Saksham leg before with one that kept a touch low.
Atharva and Shubham Sharma chipped together another 30 runs, but an ill-timed sweep from the former against Harsh triggered a collapse of shocking proportions.
Atharva was adjudged leg-before, while Shubham’s attempt to punch Harsh through covers was pouched sharply by Danish Malewar. Harsh would also account for the big fish, Rajat Patidar, two balls later, bowling him with a peach that straightened past the outside edge for nought.
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In an attempt to counter the dual left-arm threat of Harsh and Rekhade, MP promoted southpaw Saransh Jain up to five, but he too would find himself back in the dugout leg-before after attempting to shoulder arms to Rekhade. Three balls later, Arshad Khan chipped a return catch back to Rekhade, completing a passage of play in which the visitor lost four wickets for zero runs in seven balls.
From that point on, the result was all but sealed. Rekhade dismissed Kumar Kartikeya Singh and Avesh Khan in consecutive overs to complete a five-wicket haul, before Harsh sealed victory in just two hours and 15 minutes on the final day by wrecking Chanchal Rathore’s stumps.
He also claimed career-best match figures of 14 for 90 and vaulted himself to the top of the Ranji Trophy wicket-taking charts with 28 wickets at 11.64 in the first four rounds.
The scores:
Madhya Pradesh – 1st innings: 209 all out.
Vidarbha – 1st innings: 334 all out
Madhya Pradesh – 2nd innings: Yash Dubey c Harsh b Rekhade 4, Saksham Purohit lbw Harsh 34, Atharva Mahajan lbw Harsh 18, Shubham Sharma c Malewar b Harsh 20, Saransh Jain lbw Rekhade 2, Rajat Patidar b Harsh 0, Chanchal Rathore b Harsh 10, Arshad Khan c & b Rekhade, Kumar Kartikeya Singh lbw Rekhade, Avesh Khan b Rekhade 2, Ravi Kiran (not out) 0; Extras (b-8, lb-4, nb-1): 13; (in 33.3 overs): 105.
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-55, 3-84, 4-87, 5-87, 6-87, 7-87, 8-99, 9-103.
Vidarbha bowling: Rekhade 7-2-14-5, Harsh 11.3-2-37-5, Gurbani 5-1-13-0, Bhute 5-0-18-0, Nalkande 5-1-11-0.
Published on Nov 04, 2026
