Irani Trophy 2018, Day 3, Review: Vidarbha use strange tactics on rain affected day

It was a rather strange day for both the participating sides of the Irani Trophy 2018. Team Vidarbha finished the third day of the fixture with a score in excess of 700. They seem to be in total control of the game, albeit only for a draw. On a track that has been batting friendly, it is unlikely that the star-studded Rest of India side will bundle out twice to concede the game.

Also, the fact that Vidarbha are not ‘done’ yet with the bat makes things more intriguing. It is tough to comprehend how the Ranji Trophy champions are trying to take the proceedings forward. In all likelihood, they should not extend their batting by more than five overs on the penultimate day of the match. They are waiting for Apoorv Wankhade to reach his century.

Wankhade finished the day 3 with an unbeaten 99 to his name. Coming to the day’s play, the action was delayed start. The heavy downpour in Nagpur washed away the first session of the day and ate into the second session’s time as well. When the match eventually kicked off, Vidarbha resumed their batting with the overnight score of 598/3.

Wasim Jaffer stood tall with 285 to his name while Apoorv had just started to get the feel of the track. Jaffer failed to add much to his overnight tally and was undone by a lovely delivery from Siddarth Kaul on 286. His marathon knock came to an end after his stay of 431 balls at the crease, during which he hit 34 fours and a six. Akshay Wadkar was the new man in.

Wadkar scored a decent 37 as Wankhade reached his fifty at the other end. Wadkar was dismissed by Shahbaz Nadeem in the final overs of the day. By the end of the day, Vidarbha finished with 702/5 to their credit with Wankhade unbeaten on 99 off 173 deliveries and Aditya Sarwate batting on 4. Only 28 overs of play was possible on the day.

Unless the rain affects the nature of the track and behaves drastically different on the final two days, the result of the game looks like a tame draw. Vidarbhan bowlers will have to come up with something really special to make a match out of this game. At the same time, the teams would be hoping for no more rain interruptions on the day.

Brief Scores:

Vidarbha 702/5 (Jaffer 286, Satish 120, Kaul 2/91, Ashwin 1/123)

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