Ranji Trophy QF: Vidarbha drive TN into a corner

Nagpur: Dhruv Shorey was squatting on his haunches, the off stump behind him cartwheeling. After cautiously facing 57 deliveries, the Vidarbha opener had failed to negotiate the lack of bounce of an armer by Tamil Nadu skipper R Sai Kishore.
Karun Nair, having negotiated 78 deliveries, shaped up to play a good length ball bowled by Vijay Shankar. The 111.8km/h delivery bounced steeply, hit Nair's gloves and ballooned to gully fielder Boopathi Kumar.
These two dismissals in the second and third sessions showed the treacherous nature of the Day 3 pitch at the VCA Civil Lines Stadium. Along with Shorey and Nair, Vidarbha lost three more wickets to end Monday on 169 for 5 in 62 overs after securing a 128-run first innings lead over Tamil Nadu.
Yash Rathod (55*;119b;5x4), the highest scorer of Day 3 across both teams, and Harsh Dubey (29;57b;1x4;2x6) resurrected the Vidarbha innings after a top-order collapse. With five wickets in hand, Vidarbha's overall lead is sure to swell beyond 300. Considering the wearing pitch, Tamil Nadu's prospects in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal don't look too good.
Having bundled Tamil Nadu out for 225, Vidarbha started on a positive note with openers Atharva Taide and Dhruv Shorey putting together 33 runs in 8 overs. Taide (19;28b), after hitting four crisp boundaries, perished trying to drive a ball slanting away.
Three overs later, Danish Malewar gave a return catch to Sai Kishore without opening his account. The wickets of Shorey (20;57b;3x4), Nair (29;78b;2x4;1x6) and skipper Akshay Wadkar (8;22b;1x4) saw Vidarbha collapse to 114 for 5 in 43.1 overs.
With the lead just 242, Tamil Nadu sensed blood and a chance to come back into the quarterfinal. But Rathod, Vidarbha's highest run getter of the season, proved his credentials yet again.
Adopting a measured approach, Rathod defended with confidence and made most of it whenever the TN bowlers erred in line or length. Rathod found an able ally in Dubey, who didn't shy from attacking the rivals. Dubey twice went for big sixes to unsettle the rhythm of skipper Sai Kishore. The two remained unbeaten till the end of Day 3, pushing the visitors into a corner.
It just didn't turn out to be Tamil Nadu's day. Starting Day 3 on 159 for 6, the visitors' last four batters lasted for 18.3 overs adding 66 runs to the total. Yash Thakur removed skipper Sai Kishore (7;47b) and M Mohammed inside five overs to reduce Tamil Nadu to 170 for 8 in 50 overs. Pradosh Ranjan Paul and R Sonu Yadav added 49 runs to take Tamil Nadu past the 200-run mark.
Paul (48;73b;4x4), overnight on 18, missed his second fifty of the season by just two runs when he edged a Nachiket Bhute delivery to Atharva Taide in the slips. In the next over, Aditya Thakare posted his first five-for of the season by sending back Yadav (2;44b;4x4;1x6) to finish off the Tamil Nadu first innings at 225.
BRIEF SCORES
Vidarbha: 353 & 169 for 5 in 62 overs (Yash Rathod batting 55, Harsh Dubey batting 29, Karun Nair 29, Dhruv Shorey 20; R Sai Kishore 2-47, R Sonu Yadav 1-19, Vijay Shankar 1-20, Ajith Ram 1-24) lead Tamil Nadu (overnight 159 for 6): 225 all out in 64.3 over (Andre Siddarth 65, Pradosh Ranjan Paul 48, R Sonu Yadav 32; Aditya Thakare 5-34, Nachiket Bhute 2-54, Yash Thakur 2-78, Harsh Dubey 1-51) by 297 runs.