NEW DELHI: Led by
Avesh Khan
, the Madhya Pradesh pace bowling unit found the right lengths on a pitch with ample carry, dismissing
Vidarbha
for a mere 170 on the first day to take control of their
Ranji Trophy
semifinal match in Nagpur on Saturday.
Avesh excelled with figures of 4/49, receiving valuable support from
Kulwant Khejroliya
(2/38) and Venkatesh Iyer (2/28).
At the close of play, Madhya Pradesh reached 47 for one in their first innings, trailing by 123 runs.
Despite the VCA Stadium deck featuring a noticeable green tinge, Madhya Pradesh utilised spin for just 2.4 overs out of the 56.4 overs bowled on the day.
Left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya fulfilled the duties of a spinner for a brief period, dismissing the last man, Umesh Yadav. Meanwhile, other spinners in their lineup, such as off-spinner Saransh Jain, were mere spectators during the proceedings.
Vidarbha's feeble fight came through Karun Nair, who made 63 (105 balls, 9x4).
India pacer Avesh gave MP a fine start to the match when he uprooted the stumps of opener
Dhruv Shorey
(13).
Vidarbha lost wickets at regular intervals from that point and their biggest partnership was a 36 between Atharva Taide (39, 63b, 8x4) and Aman Mokhade (13, 75 balls) for the second wicket.
It came in almost 16 overs but the home side failed to capitalise on all the hard work.
Taide, who made a gritty hundred against Karnataka in the quarterfinals, snicked Iyer to stumper Himanshu Mantri who took a lovely tumbling catch behind the first slip.
It brought Karun, Vidarbha's highest run-getter so far this season, to the middle and he played a fine innings filled with those typical drives and cuts.
But the right-hander did not find support from the other end as Avesh dismissed a stubborn Mokhade.
The hosts soon lost Yash Rathod, bowled by Iyer, and skipper Akshay Wadkar in the space of five runs to slip to 106 for five.
The catch Yash Dubey took at gully off pacer Khejroliya to oust Wadkar was a stunning one. He made a low-dive to his left to pouch a screamer as Wadkar tried to steer the ball from outside the off-stump.
Vidarbha's hopes of reaching at least 200 was dashed when Karun dragged a Khejroliya delivery to his stumps while attempting a pull.
However, the Vidarbha bowlers were not as accurate as their MP counterparts as the visiting batters saw off the day without any alarm.
The lone jarring note was the dismissal of Dubey who feathered an edge off Umesh to Wadkar behind the stumps.
Brief Scores:
Vidarbha (1st Innings): 170 all out in 56.4 overs (Karun Nair 63, Atharva Taide 39; Avesh Khan 4/49, Kulwant Khejroliya 2/38, Venkatesh Iyer 2/28) vs Madhya Pradesh: 47/1 in 20 overs (Himanshu Mantri 26 batting, Harsh Gawli 10 batting).
(With inputs from PTI)
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