Gritty knocks from captain Akshay Wadkar (100, 212b, 9×4) and Nachiket Bhute (97, 111, 6×4, 5×6) hauled Vidarbha to a first-innings lead on the second day of its Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match against Madhya Pradesh at the VCA Jamtha Stadium in Nagpur.
After losing four overnight, Vidarbha needed to show resolve to see out the morning session. Dhruv Shorey provided an early stamp of his intentions with a pair of classy straight drives, but it proved a false dawn as he was beaten through the gate by Avesh Khan.
Kumar Kartikeya Singh ran proceedings on the first evening, but perhaps looking to make a statement, Harsh Dubey launched him for a six over mid-on early on. However, his attempt to do the same to Saransh Jain was less successful, as he holed out.
With Vidarbha six down early, MP looked to go for the kill, packing close catchers around the bat. However, those catchers were soon forced back by Wadkar and Bhute’s counter-attack.
Bhute was the earlier aggressor, launching Saransh for a maximum on just his fifth ball of the innings, while Kartikeya was sent to the fence with equal disdain.
Fearing a leakage of runs, MP brought its field back, leaving space for the duo to continue knocking runs around at a healthy rate. Wadkar was prolific in manipulating angles to find gaps in the field with ease.
The duo soon brought the deficit below 100, and Nachiket launched Saransh for another straight six to bring up his half-century in 56 balls in the final over before Lunch. Post-resumption, the pair maintained a quick tempo against seamers Avesh and Ravi Kiran, capitalising on errant line and length.
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However, Nachiket was fortunate to survive a pair of squandered opportunities. He first miscued a pull off Avesh up into the air, only for Rajat Patidar to shell a tough chance diving backwards, before wicketkeeper Saksham Purohit let slip a stumping chance off Kartikeya.
The efficient Wadkar notched his second consecutive fifty from 122 balls before Bhute thrashed Kiran through the covers to confirm the host’s first-innings lead. As the second session progressed, the Vidarbha captain began taking more of the strike, sending several glorious backfoot punches and drives to the fence.
Bhute moved past his highest First-Class score with a continuation of his attack on Saransh, but with three figures closing in, MP brought Arshad back into the attack, and the 26-year-old fiddled behind into the outstretched left glove of Saksham.
Wadkar, too, seemed to suffer a case of the nervous 90s, attempting to manufacture shots in a way that was incongruous with the assuredness of the rest of his innings. He went into the Tea break stranded on 98, and though he reached his century after the resumption, it came at a heavy personal cost.
The Vidarbha skipper punched Avesh into the offside and set off for a tight single, diving at full stretch to make his ground. He managed to do so successfully, but was in visible pain afterwards and unable to get up.
A stretcher was brought out, and he was taken to an ambulance for further treatment.
Darshan Nalkande was able to land a few further blows before skewing up a caught-and-bowled off Saransh, leaving Parth Rekhade and Rajneesh Gurbani to navigate the final hour. The duo pushed the lead past 100 before Rekhade holed out.
The visitor faced six overs of the new ball and got off to the worst possible start as Yash Dubey picked out cover on the second delivery, leaving it facing a tall task again tomorrow.
Published on Nov 03, 2026
