Vidarbha managed to gain the upper hand on Day 2 of their match against Rest of India in Irani Cup. After the reigning Ranji Trophy champions were bundled out for 342 runs in their first innings, their bowlers dismissed five of Rest of India's batters by the end of day's play. Vidarbha will be hoping that their bowlers can continue their rhythm on Day 3 as well and bundle out the opposition for a small total in their first innings.
Day 2 had begun with Vidarbha batters Atharva Taide and Yash Thakur on the crease and the side's total at 280/5. It didn't take long for the Rest of India bowlers to get their first wicket of the day as Thakur got dismissed by Anshul Kamboj for just 11 runs. Soon after, Akash Deep got into action and picked up the wicket of Harsh Dubey for a duck, making it a poor start to the day for Vidarbha.
However, the duo of Taide and Darshan Nalkande formed an important 37-run stand to take the side's total well-over the 300-run mark. The former, who had scored a century on Day 1, was eventually dismissed on 143 runs by Saransh Jain The bowler would also go on to take Vidarbha's final wicket of the innings in the form of Aditya Thakare. This wicket saw the Akshay Wadkar-led side get bundled out for 342 runs. Both Akash Deep and Manav Suthar were the top performers for Rest of India in the bowling department, taking three scalps each.
In reply, Rest of India started their innings well thanks to openers Abhimanyu Easwaran and Aryan Juyal. Both went on to form a 52-run stand before Nalkande dismissed the latter for 23 runs. Soon after, Harsh Dubey got the wicket of Yash Dhull for 11 runs as Rest of India got restricted to 73/2. The duo of Easwaran and skipper Rajat Patidar tried to form a big partnership, however the former got dismissed for 52 by Parth Rekhade, leaving the side on 105/3.
Vidarbha finished off the day well
Patidar went on to score multiple boundaries and stood firm on one end. However, wickets on the other end kept falling as both Ruturaj Gaikwad (9) and Ishan Kishan (1) got dismissed for cheap scores a few overs before the end of day's play. Patidar remained unbeaten on 42 as Rest of India wrapped up the day on 142/5, still trailing their opponents by 200 runs. It was another solid day for Vidarbha, who have so far looked to be the better side out of the two. It remains to be seen how will things develop in the match on Day 3.