Day 2 round-up: Wicketkeeper Akshay Wadkar led Vidarbha’s fightback with an unbeaten half-century as the Ranji champions remained in hunt for a first innings lead after the second day of their Irani Cup match against Rest of India. After restricting Rest to a modest 330 on the opening day, Vidarbha ended the second day at 245 for 6 with Wadkar and Akshay Karnewar (15 not out) holding fort. The hosts still trail by 85 runs.
Follow all the updates from Day 3 here –
Vidarbha lose their ninth wicket
Chahar bowls out Wakhare as Vidarbha lose their ninth wicket! Wakhare goes for 20, Vidarbha lead by 56 runs.
Karnewar goes for 102
Rahul Chahar strikes Karnewar’s pads and dismisses him for 102. Vidarbha lose their eighth wicket as their lead crosses 50. Now Vidarbha’s hopes of a bigger lead rests on numbers 9, 10 and 11.
Karnewar brings up his century with a six!
Karnewar smashes a delivery off Dharmendrasinh over the mid-wicket boundary to get to his maiden first-class century. His hundred propels Vidarbha to 377/7. The home side lead by 47 runs.
Lunch break: Vidarbha – 377/7 in 125.6 overs (A K Karnewar 102 off 130, A A Wakhare 15 off 58) @Paytm #IraniCup #VIDvROI
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) February 14, 2019
Karnewar nears century
Karnewar is playing a gem of an innings in this Irani Cup match. The Vidarbha batsman is batting on 82 off 122 balls. He has struck 11 boundaries and one six in his innings so far. Vidarbha lead by 22 runs.
Vidarbha attain lead
Wakhare clips a delivery off his pads for a single and Vidarbha attain first innings lead against Rest of India. They will hope to get a lead of at least 100 runs to put pressure on their opponents.
Karnewar scores fifty
Karnewar pulls a delivery over mid-wicket for a boundary and brings up his half-century. The Vidarbha batsman has played a crucial innings at number eight as his team inches closer to ROI’s total. Vidarbha: 312/7.
Wadkar falls for 73
The Rest of India finally manage to get a wicket! Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar bowled a full length googly which hit the stumps. Wadkar goes for 73, but Vidarbha are just 25 runs away from ROI’s total.
Karnewar hits three consecutive fours
Karnewar is turning on the heat in this Irani Cup match. The Vidarbha batsman struck two boundaries between backward point and third man before edging Rajpoot for another boundary in the third man region. At the moment, Vidarbha trail by just 42 runs.
Injury update
K Gowtham, who sustained a shoulder injury on Day 2 of the Irani Cup match, will not bowl in the remainder of this tie. The off-spinner will bat only if required.
Streaky boundary for Wadkar
Wadkar edges a delivery off Ankit Rajpoot, but the ball goes between the wicket-keeper and first slip and runs away to the fence. A streaky four for Wadkar in the first over of the day. Vidarbha: 249/6.
Hello and welcome
A very warm welcome to the live blog of the day 3 of the Irani Cup match between Vidarbha and Rest of India. The match is currently in the balance with the Ranji cahmpions inching closer to Rest of India’s score. Akshay Wadkar (50*) and Akshay Karnewar (15*) will start proceedings for the home on Day 3 in a few minutes.
Source: HindustanTimes