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Vidarbha appeared to have a slight edge over Madhya Pradesh on the fourth day of the second Ranji Trophy semifinal match in Nagpur with the help of their bowlers and gutsy knocks from Yash Rathod and Akshay Wakhare.
The match is tantalisingly poised with Madhya Pradesh needing 93 runs for victory with the last four wickets in hand. Saransh Jain (16*) and Kumar Kartikeya (0*) were on the crease for Madhya Pradesh at stumps. Vidarbha sought to maintain an upper hand in the game on the fourth day but a second-wicket partnership between Madhya Pradesh's Yash Dubey (94) and Gawli (67) yielded 103 runs. Vidarbha pacer Yash Thakur broke the long partnership as Gawli went back to the pavilion. Following this, the spin pair of Akshay Wakhare and Aditya Sarwate got crucial breakthroughs. Wakhare picked up two crucial wickets after he dismissed both Sagar Solanki and Shubham Sharma for low scores. Wakhare removed Venkatesh Iyer for 19 runs. Madhya Pradesh lost five wickets for only 99 runs in 30.2 overs and No. 7 batter Jain and No. 8 in the batting lineup Kartikeya were at the crease. Earlier, Vidarbha ended their second innings with 402 runs after adding 59 runs to their overnight score of 343. Yash Rathod, who started day four unbeaten on 97, scored the bulk of the runs with the lower order to finish on 141. Vidarbha had conceded an 85-run first-innings lead but with the help of Rathod's maiden first-class century and Wakhare's 77, they were 320 runs ahead. Madhya Pradesh's medium-pacer Anubhav Agarwal ran through Vidarbha's tail claiming five wickets for 92 runs. Brief Score: Vidarbha 170 & 402 (Yash Rathod 141, Akshay Wadkar 77; Anubhav Agarwal 5-92) vs Madhya Pradesh 252 & 228/6 (Yash Dubey 94, Harsh Gawli 67; Akshay Wakhare 3-38). (ANI)
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