On an action-packed day, which saw 17 wickets tumbling, Vidarbha bundled out the hosts for 82 runs in their second innings in 24 overs to record their second successive outright win of the season. Vidarbha bowlers, led by left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey (4/20), shared the spoils after their batters once again failed to get going.
Resuming on 25/3, Vidarbha kept losing wickets and were reduced to 76/8 before Harsh Dubey (37) and Akshay Wakhare (17) added crucial 48 runs for the ninth wicket to ensure that Pondicherry would have to chase 203 for victory.
The home team was, however, never in the race and lost nine wickets for 50 runs before last-man Gourav Yadav (25) and Ankit Sharma (8*) added 32 runs to delay the inevitable.
Harsh Dubey, who contributed 76 and 37 runs with the bat and took 7 wickets, was adjudged the Player of the Match. Vidarbha's next match is against Uttarakhand in Dehradun from Oct 26-29, 2024.
BRIEF SCORES
Vidarbha 1st innings: 283 all out in 96.5 overs (Yash Rathod 118, Akshay Wadkar 31, Harsh Dubey 76; Gourav Yadav 4/65)
Pondicherry 1st innings: 209 all out in 91overs (Arun Karthick 49, Mohit Kale 32, Anand Bais 33; Harsh Dubey 3/53, Akshay Wakhare 3/50)
Vidarbha 2nd innings: 128 all out in 58.2 overs (Karun Nair 25, Harsh Dubey 37; Sagar Udeshi 5/50, Ankit Sharma 4/48)
Pondicherry 2nd innings: 82 all out in 24 overs (Gourav Yadav 25; Harsh Dubey 4/20, Praful Hinge 2/9, Aditya Thakare 2/11)
Result: Vidarbha won by 120 runs