Karun Nair led the way with a splendid unbeaten 128 as Vidarbha batsmen plundered 328 runs . Vidarbha, 111/1 overnight, were in a commanding position with 439/6 on board in reply to Maharashtra’s first innings tally of 208. Enjoying a lead of 231 runs with four wickets standing, Vidarbha will look to pile up as many runs as possible before their bowlers go in for the kill.
The day belonged to Nair, who followed up his 112 against Rajasthan in the previous match with yet another century. Opener Dhruv Shorey (93) and captain Akshay Wadkar (90) both missed out on their individual hundreds but made Maharashtra bowlers toil all day.
Shorey, who was unbeaten on 55 overnight, added 37 runs more to his tally before falling in the nervous nineties. Young Yash Rathod too perished for 42, but Mohit Kale and Nair ensured the crucial first innings lead for Vidarbha. After Kale fell for 29, Nair and Wadkar added 149 runs for the fifth wicket in only 202 balls to put their team on top.
Wadkar was more aggressive of the two, racing to 90 off 101 balls with 12 boundaries. Nair has so far faced 205 balls and hit 18 boundaries. He will resume his innings along with Harsh Dubey (13 batting) on Sunday.
BRIEF SCORES
Maharashtra 1st Innings: 208 all out in 56.4 overs (P. Shah 35, Manoj Ingale 36 n.o.; Aditya Sarvate 3/43, Lalit Yadav 2/32, Yash Thakur 2/68)
Vidarbha 1st Innings: 439/6 in 106 overs (Atharva Taide 21, Dhruv Shorey 92, Yash Rathod 42, Akshay Wadkar 90, Mohit Kale 29, Karun Nair 128 batting)
Match situation: Vidarbha lead by 231 runs on first innings with 4 wickets standing