Ranji Trophy: Umesh Yadav Claims Four-fer But Vidarbha Batters Crumble to Let Advantage Slip Against Saurashtra

Vidarbha produced a meek batting effort in the first innings to squander the advantage veteran pacer Umesh Yadav gave them with a four-wicket burst against defending champions Saurashtra in their Elite Group A Ranji match here on Friday.

Umesh took four for 56 as Vidarbha bundled out Saurashtra for a modest 206 but found themselves in deep trouble at 26 for 4, still trailing by 180 runs.

It was an inept batting effort by Saurashtra, who are looking to regroup from a four-wicket defeat against Punjab in the last match.

Opener and wicketkeeper batter Harvik Desai (68 off 95 balls) and experienced Cheteshwar Pujara (43 off 105 balls) helped Saurashtra cross the 200-run mark as they were rocked Umesh’s hostility.

However, Jaydev Unadkat, Aditya Jadeja, Chirag Jani and Prerak Mankad took a wicket apiece as Saurashtra gained some ground over their opponents.

At Jodhpur, Rajasthan were in driver’s seat after left-arm spinner Ajay Singh (5/75) and pacer Arafat Khan (3/34) wrecked Maharashtra first innings, bundling them out for 189.

In reply, Rajasthan reached 110 for two with Deepak Hooda (36) and Karan Lamba (45) holding the fort for them.

At Ahmedabad, Himanshu Rana (193, 252b, 26×4) and Nishant Sindhu (119, 162b, 18×4) made brisk hundreds as Haryana piled up 391 for three on day one against a hapless Manipur attack.

At Delhi, Kumar Kushagra (69 n.o) and captain Virat Singh (85 n.o) helped Jharkhand recover from 65 for four, and reach a healthier 195 for 4 against Services at close on Day 1.

Brief scores: At Nagpur: Saurashtra: 206 all out in 58.4 overs (Harvik Desai 68, Cheteshwar Pujara 43; Umesh Yadav 4/56, Harsh Dubey 2/15) vs Vidarbha: 26/4 in 19 overs.

At Jodhpur: Maharashtra: 189 all out in 55.5 overs (Nikhil Naik 48, Kedar Jadhav 42; Ajay Singh 5/75, Arafat Khan 3/34) vs Rajasthan: 110/2 in 26 overs (Karan Lamba 45 not out, Deepak Hooda 36 not out).

At Ahmedabad: Haryana: 391/3 in 90 overs (Himanshu Rana 193 not out, Nishant Sindhu 119, Ankit Kumar 56) vs Manipur.

At Delhi: Jharkhand: 195/4 in 71 overs (Virat Singh 85 not out, Kumar Kushagra 69 not out; Varun Choudhary 2/18) vs Services.