Madhya Pradesh opener Himanshu Mantri scored a century on Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 semifinal but it was not enough to help the side take a big lead against Vidarbha. Umesh Yadav and Yash Thakur took three wickets each to keep Madhya Pradesh’s first innings lead below 100 in pacer-friendly conditions at Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur.
Mantri plays the anchor role
Starting Day 2 at 47/1, Mantri and Harsh Gawli looked to play out the first hour of the first session, Thakur got the breakthrough with Gawli's wicket. He scored 25 runs from 77 balls. Two overs later, Yadav dismissed skipper Shubham S Sharma for a single. Meanwhile, Mantri reached his half-century from 123 balls. Venkatesh Iyer could not score a single run and was dismissed lbw by Thakur for a 15-ball duck. After the lunch break, Sagar Solanki was dismissed run-out for a 57-ball 26.
Mantri accelerated and hit Akshay Wakhare for a six. Saransh Jain played patiently. Mantri reached the three figures from 210 balls. Wakhare broke the seventh-wicket partnership. Jain was dismissed for 30 off 76 balls. Later, Wakhare got the prized wicket of Mantri. The wicketkeeper-batter hit 13 fours and a six in his 126 of 265 balls.
MP tail doesn’t wag
In the next over, Anubha Agarwal got bowled by Aditya Sarwate. Avesh Khan hit a six but he could not contribute with a cameo. Thakur and Yadav dismissed Kumar Kartikeya and Kulwant Khejroliya respectively to bowl out Madhya Pradesh for 252. They managed to take an 82-run lead.
Avesh strikes early
With a few overs to go in the day's play, Vidarbha openers walked out to bat. Avesh could not do much damage with the bat but he dismissed Atharava Taide lbw for a single-digit score. Wakhare was sent in to bat as nightwatchman. He faced nine deliveries and scored a single. On the other end, Dhruv Shorey hit two fours and remained unbeaten for 10 runs. They are trailing by 69 runs and will face an uphill task on Day 3.
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