Vidarbha retain control after Yash Rathod’s 151

Vidarbha wrested control of the semifinal against Mumbai on the penultimate day on the back of Yash Rathod’s 151. Vidarbha managed to extend their lead in the second innings despite Shams Mulani’s six-wicket haul with Rathod scoring more than half of the team’s total of 292.

Rathod and Wadkar had arrested the slide on the third day and they continued to build on that, adding 70 more on the fourth day. Their 158-run stand for the fifth wicket was the bedrock of Vidarbha’s innings which suffered collapses on either side of it. Rathod managed to add important runs with the lower-order as well before being the last batter to be dismissed even as Mulani, along with Tanush Kotian, kept plugging away at one end. It left Mumbai with a daunting target of 406 to get in the final innings.

The chase was pegged back by Harsh Dubey who struck twice in quick succession before Parth Rekhade added to Mumbai’s woes by getting skipper Ajinkya Rahane LBW for 12. Needing 323 more on the final day, Mumbai are left with an uphill task if they are to stay in contention to defend their title, which they had incidentally won by defeating Vidarbha in the previous season.

Brief Scores:Mumbai 270 (Akash Anand 106, Shardul Thakur 37; Parth Rekhade 4-55) & 83/3 (Harsh Dubey 2/26)trailVidarbha 383 (Danish Malewar 79, Dhruv Shorey 74; Shivam Dube 5-49, Royston Dias 2-48) & 292 (Yash Rathod 151, Akshay Wadkar 52; Shams Mulani 6-86) by 323 runs