Wadkar maintains Vidarbha's command with maiden ton

Akshay Wadkar and Aditya Sarwate blunted Delhi's attack with dour batting in the post-lunch session on Day 3 of the Ranji Trophy final on Sunday (December 31) to take Vidarbha to Tea at 444 for 7. The 169-run seventh-wicket stand, the highest for the wicket for Vidarbha this season, put them firmly in command of the game.

Having resumed the session on 336 for 6, Sarwate, who had stroked his way to a quickfire half-century, slowed down considerably after the first break of the day. Wadkar, on the other hand, looked far more authoritative and comfortable in the session. After a scratchy start to his innings, he stroked his way to first fifty-plus score in first-class cricket. His innings was devoid of risks and he took advantage of a jaded fielding unit and a tired bowling attack to structure his innings.

Delhi remained far from inspiring on the field, marked by Rishabh Pant's poor work. For the second time in the day and outside edge ran through the gap between Pant and first slip fielder Dhruv Shorey.

With Manan Sharma unable to bowl due to an injured knee, Delhi were left with only one frontline spinner - Vikas Mishra - who caused some trouble but couldn't bag a wicket. As the frontline pacers failed to create inroads, Shorey and Nitish Rana bowled some part-time offspin which allowed the batsmen to escape challenge for close to 10 overs in the session.

However, it was Rana who eventually got the breakthrough for them as Sarwate got an outside edge to an innocuous offbreak only for Pant to not mess it up this time and end the all-rounder's fine innings on 79.

Vidarbha's move to avoid risks eventually paid off as runs flowed freely towards the second half of the session. The period from 300 to 400 was the slowest, taking 219 balls, much unlike their previous 100 runs which took only 138 deliveries.

The move to go slow worked well for Vidarbha, who are now sitting comfortably with a 149-run lead. With only three wickets remaining, Vidarbha would look to bat as long as possible with the pitch in favour of the batsmen and reducing the time for Delhi to attempt a comeback in the game.

Brief scores: Delhi 295 (Dhruv Shorey 145, Himmat Singh 66; Rajneesh Gurbani 6-59, Aditya Thakare 2-74) trail Vidarbha 444/7 (Akshay Wadkar 100*, Wasim Jaffer 78; Navdeep Saini 3-115, Akash Sudan 2-96) by 149 runs.