Vidarbha are in complete control of the match against Rest of India heading into the fifth and final day of the Irani Cup. The Rajat Patidar-led side still need 331 runs to win the match while on the other hand, the reigning Ranji Trophy champions need eight wickets to emerge victorious.
The fourth day began with Vidarbha batters Dhruv Shorey and Danish Malewar on the crease. Though both of them had scored some runs the previous day and looked to have settled in the middle, Anshul Kamboj managed to get the breakthrough in the early overs of the fourth day and dismissed Malewar for 16 runs. The pacer didn't stop there and got the big wickets of Yash Rathod and Dhruv Shorey in his next two overs, leaving Vidarbha in a spot of bother at 105/5.
Important cameos got Vidarbha to a respectable total
However, both Akshay Wadkar and Harsh Dubey played key cameos of 36 and 29 respectively, getting Vidarbha closer to the 200-run mark. But, both of them failed to play big knocks and this saw the side get restricted to 155/7 at one stage. It looked as if Rest of India will bundle them out for quite a low total, but eventually the crucial 35-run inning of Darshan Nalkande got Vidarbha well-over the 200-run mark. It also saw the opposing bowlers get frustrated as they ended up taking a lot of time to send the tail-enders back to the pavilion.
Eventually, Vidarbha were bundled out for a respectable total of 232 and this saw them set up a massive target of 361 runs for Rest of India. Kamboj was the pick of the bowlers for Patidar & Co. as he recorded brilliant figures of 4/34. Alonsgide him, Saransh Jain, Manav Suthar and Gurnoor Brar all contributed well and picked up two scalps each.
Rest of India lost two quick wickets
As the Rest of India openers came out to bat, they knew that they had to provide their side with a strong start so that they don't come under much pressure. However, they failed to do that as Aryan Juyal lost his wicket to Aditya Thakare for just six runs. Abhimanyu Easwaran wasn't able to last long on the crease either and was dismissed by Dubey for 17 runs.
Next batters Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad also weren't looking in great touch but unfortunately for Vidarbha, rain stopped play with an hour of play still left. The day would eventually be brought to an end as the rain didn't look to be stopping anytime soon. rest of India wrapped up the day on 30/2, still far behind the target of 361. Vidarbha will now be heading into the final day of the match confident about pulling off the victory as they need eight wickets more to win the Irani Cup, while their opponents still need to score a massive number of runs to come out victorious.