Nagpur, Oct 3 (IANS) Vidarbha tightened their grip on the Irani Cup by securing a strong first-innings lead of 128 and then extending it to 224 against Rest of India by stumps on the third day at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur, on Friday.

Resuming the day at 142 for 5 in reply to Vidarbha’s 342, Rest of India suffered an early blow when Aditya Thakare struck with the very first ball of the day. Manav Suthar was trapped lbw, with Vidarbha successfully overturning the umpire’s not-out decision on review.

Yash Thakur took charge of the morning session with two quick wickets – bowling Saransh Jain with a searing yorker before sending back Akash Deep, caught at cover.

The Rest of India skipper Rajat Patidar, who had resumed on 42, fought hard with a fluent knock that featured ten boundaries. He reached 66 before perishing as the penultimate wicket, attempting to clear long-off against Harsh Dubey.

Thakur then wrapped up the innings, dismissing the final batter to finish with 4 for 66. The rest of India were bowled out for 214, giving Vidarbha a vital first-innings advantage of 128.

In response, Vidarbha’s openers Atharva Taide and Aman Mohkade set the tone with a steady 42-run stand. Taide, however, holed out to deep midwicket off Suthar, while Mohkade fell for 37 in the 24th over, caught behind while trying to hook Gurnoor Brar.

At 64 for 2, Dhruv Shorey and Danish Malewar took charge, guiding Vidarbha safely to stumps without further damage. The pair added 32 runs to take the score to 96 for 2, leaving Vidarbha firmly in control with an overall lead of 224 runs and eight wickets still intact heading into day four.

Brief scores:

Vidarbha 342 & 96/2 in 36 overs (Aman Mokhade 37, Dhruv Shorey 34*; Gurnoor Brar 1-11) lead Rest of India 214 all out in 69.5 overs (Rajat Patidar 66, Abhimanyu Easwaran 52; Yash Thakur 4-66) by 224 runs.

–IANS

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