At close of play, Vidarbha were 358/7 in their second innings with skipper Wadkar and Bhute in an unfinished eighth wicket stand that has yielded 119 runs so far. The duo got together after the fall of Harsh Dubey's wicket at 239/7 and slowly but surely guided Vidarbha to a position of strength. Vidarbha are effectively 258 runs ahead and will be looking to force an outright victory on the final day.
Resuming on 84/4 Vidarbha made steady progress with Rathod and nightwatchman Aditya Thakare stretching their fifth wicket partnership to 63 before the latter fell for 22. It brought Wadkar and Rathod together and the duo, who have been in great form in the tournament, added 94 runs for the sixth wicket. Rathod was unlucky to miss what would have been his fourth century this season, by just two runs.
Rathod has so far accumulated 583 runs in 10 innings in Ranji Trophy this season at an average of 58.30 with three centuries and two half-centuries. Wadkar, who is averaging 68.57 this season, will be looking to add to his aggregate of 480 runs when play resumes.
Even though Dubey fell cheaply, Bhute and Wadkar made sure that Rajasthan had no further success. The duo will be looking to add some quick runs on the final day before Vidarbha bowlers get down to the business of forcing an outright victory.
BRIEF SCORES
Vidarbha 1st inning: 165 all out in 57.2 overs (Karun Nair 39, Akshay Wadkar 34, Nachiket Bhute 34; Khaleel Ahmed 5/37, Manav Suthar 3/40)
Rajasthan 1st innings: 265 all out in 87.4 overs (Mahipal Lomror 72, S. Joshi 78; Harsh Dubey 5/81, Shubham Kapse 2/47, Nachiket Bhute 2/42)
Vidarbha 2nd innings: 358/7 in 122 overs (Dhruv Shorey 33, Yash Rathod 98, Akshay Wadkar 102 batting, Nachiket Bhute 57 batting; Kookna 3/92)
Match situation: Vidarbha lead by 258 runs